The dazzling Mumbai Indians’ all-rounder, Kieron Pollard, has admitted that his side was completely outplayed by the Rajasthan Royals last night, but at the same time, he urged his teammates to come up with an improved performance in the next game.
The Mumbai team, which was considered to be the hot favourite for the the title this season, suffered their third consecutive defeat as they were thrashed by Shane Warne and company in an Indian Premier League match on Friday, May 20, 2011.
Having been asked to ball first, the Royals restricted Sachin Tendulkar and his men to a paltry 133.
In response, Shane Watson smashed an aggressive knock of 89 runs off just 47 balls and led Rajasthan Royals to an emphatic 10-wicket victory.
The Indians are now scheduled to face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Sunday, May 22, 2011. Citing the next game as very important for his team to secure a berth in the play-offs, Pollard said, "We were totally outplayed by Rajasthan Royals. We can only get better from this. We didn`t play well. The game against Kolkata (Knight Riders) would be crucial for us.”
When asked about his team’s not-so-impressive performance against the Jaipur outfit, Pollard acknowledged that the batsmen have not been scoring enough runs.
He further vowed that even though the team's morale is down after three embarrassing defeats in a row, the players are confident about the upcoming contest against KKR.
Meanwhile, Pollard gave full credit to Watson for his blistering match-winning innings and said that Watson’s all-round performance left MI with no chance to come back into the game.
"Watto was fantastic today. (Lasith) Malinga had the better of him in the first two balls but he stuck to hisguns. He`s a world class player. He has done it for Australia, he has done it here. He batted well," the Trinidadian added.
Commenting on team selection, Pollard confessed that not having a regular opening batsman to partner Sachin Tendulkar is an aching issue for the side. However, he hoped to get a good combination before the biggame on Sunday.
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