Agony.

If we can define the #MIvGT contest in one word, it would be agony. The edge-of-the-seat thriller went till the very last ball amidst rain interruptions and unfortunately, we ended up on the wrong side of the scorecard.

An arguably below-par total was almost defended owing to a good performance by our bowlers. But, in the end, it just wasn’t to be.

Our Head Coach Mahela Jayawardene appeared in the post-match press conference to give a quick assessment of the game owing to time constraints.

“I think it sums it up with those margins. Both teams made quite a few mistakes all day in the middle and we probably made more than they did. I think that's the difference.

“I think we didn't play our best, especially with the bat. I thought we were set up nicely [initially] and then, we just had to bat those last eight overs, which we didn't bat smartly.

“We're probably 30 runs short on that wicket… The guys bowled really well and created a lot of opportunities. So, I think that's a good sign and we treat every game as a playoff game from here on. I'm very proud of the boys today, the way they fought back from that situation,” Mahela said.

Talking about how the match unfolded in the second innings in terms of containing their top-order batters, who have scored approximately 75% of the runs this season, MJ praised the bowling efforts despite falling marginally short of winning the seventh match on the trot.

“We had some good plans against their top three batters and we executed really well. We had them under control. They would have had to take more risks against our bowling and that would have created more opportunities.

“That's when you look at the entire segment, that's how the game would span out. But obviously, with the weather, there are a lot of things which we go through in our heads during that time,” Mahela concluded.

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Up next, the boys will travel to Dharamsala to square off against the Punjab Kings on March 11, who are among the teams vying for a place in the Playoffs.