Failure to accelerate in the latter part of the chase, besides inferior fielding, cost Kochi Tuskers Kerala their Indian Premier League game against Chennai Super Kings in Chennai on Wednesday, according to visiting captain Parthiv Patel.
Speaking to the media after his team’s 11-run loss, Patel, standing in for Mahela Jayawaredene who left for England to join his Sri Lankan team for the Test series, said that the Tuskers had the match under control until the 15th over, but failed to accelerate from there on.
“We did well to restrict them to 150. This was not the usual Chepauk wicket where it turns quite a lot in the second innings. The ball was still coming to the bat nicely.
“We had a plan to keep wickets in hand but we could not accelerate after the 15th over. I thought we were two overs behind,” said Patel, who himself dropped a catch, besides missing two easy stumping opportunities.
“Chennai definitely fielded better than us. They are one of the best fielding sides in this tournament. Having been part of the Super Kings side for three years, I know how they prepare for the game. The results are showing for them.
“We have been working really hard. We had fielded well throughout the IPL till today. Our intensity was a bit less today,” said Patel, who last week was named in the Indian ODI side to tour the West Indies next month.
“Chennai definitely fielded better than us. They are one of the best fielding sides in this tournament. Having been part of the Super Kings side for three years, I know how they prepare for the game. The results are showing for them.
“We have been working really hard. We had fielded well throughout the IPL till today. Our intensity was a bit less today,” said Patel, who last week was named in the Indian ODI side to tour the West Indies next month.
Looking back at the Tuskers’ maiden IPL season, Patel said there were a few positives emerging from their campaign and hoped that the players would regroup and perform better next year.
“We will surely do a post-mortem. The coach and the senior players will definitely sit and discuss our plan for the next year. It is the same for all the teams.
“If you look at the results this season, every team started a bit late and we had the captain coming in on the day of the match.
“There have been a lot of positives. Looking at the team sheet of Kochi before the start of the IPL, everyone thought that ours was a weak side. We did not have anyone performing outstandingly to win the tournament.
“As for the positives, RP Singh has been bowling very well. I am quite impressed by the way he has been swinging the ball. Obviously, we had Jayawardane batting well and I have been too. Only today I had a bad game.
“As I said, we never had big names in our ranks. That was probably our strength that everyone had to perform well,” said Patel.