Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya said that his side’s inability to control the final overs and the early defeat of wickets in the powerplay proved costly as they lost by 30 runs against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.

With the win, RR moved to 16 points, overtaking Punjab Kings (PBKS) and sealed their playoff berth against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator at Mullanpur as well. Meanwhile, MI finished ninth with only eight points this season.

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Reflecting on the defeat, Pandya said, “I think 10-15 runs (more we gave with the ball). It was quite hot as well, but we did a pretty good job. It was chaseable; we just lost a lot of wickets in the powerplay, and then it was always a catch-up game. When I went to bat, it felt like it was coming on nicely. It played similarly in both innings (the pitch). It was coming on to the bat. Just had to hold your shape and play good cricketing shots.”

He further opened up on the decisive impact of Rajasthan Royals’ death-over acceleration, saying about Mumbai’s inability to restrict boundaries in the final phase.

“Death overs are always difficult, and I always believe that if you can stop 1-2 boundaries in that five-over bracket, you’ll always be 12-15 runs short. Unfortunately, we could not do that. 73 in the last five overs cost us the game as well. Everything is fine (when asked about the stretching he was doing). I bat, I bowl, I field, I skip, so it’s okay, it’s fair for me to have a game where I just batted and enjoyed myself,” he further added.