The Delhi Capitals defeated the Mumbai Indians by four wickets at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday. The win means Rishabh Pant and company are one win away from securing a top two finish on the points table. 

On the other hand, with the loss Mumbai’s playoff hopes have been dented. The defending champions, with 12 points in 10 games, are on the sixth rung of the table. 

Talking about the match a ‘disappointed’ Rohit Sharma said admitted that the team did not bat well. He added that the batsmen couldn’t get partnerships going. 

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“We always knew it was going to be a difficult venue. We watched a lot of games and we do understand that it isn’t the easiest of the grounds to play and get those runs you want. We came prepared, we knew exactly what to expect from the conditions, we spoke of those as to how we need to go about when we bat. We didn’t bat well, we didn’t create those partnerships, we always knew that it wasn’t a 170-180 wicket, we knew 140 is a par score here. We just couldn’t get the partnerships going,” the Mumbai Indians skipper said after the loss. 

None of the Mumbai batsmen except Suryakumar Yadav (33) could cross the 20-run mark. A brilliant bowling display by Axar Patel  (3/21) and Avesh Khan restricted the five-time IPL winners to 129 runs. 

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Patel dismissed Quinton De Kock (19),  and Saurabh Tiwary (15). Avesh after picking Rohit Sharma in his opening spell returned at the death and dismissed the dangerous Hardik Pandya (17) and Nathan Coulter Nile (1) within three balls. 

“If your batters are not going to put runs on the board, it’s going to be difficult to win games consistently. We have struggled with our batting this season, I personally accept that,” Sharma continued. 

The captain said that something is missing from their game and the team is not playing to its potential. 

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“But I don’t want to take anything away from the guys, we are preparing very well. We are just not able to execute in the middle, a little disappointing. We just look to play the game we are known to, something’s missing in our game. We are not playing to our potential that we are known for, that is something that is missing in the UAE leg. Hopefully in the next two games we can come out and play the way we are known for.”