Dinesh Karthik not happy with Wankhede pitch –Cricket News Update
After a demoralizing defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore’s on Wednesday, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KD-Karthik-c1780, the Mumbai Indians' wicket-keeper batsman, blamed the Wankhede stadium pitch for his side's inability to post a winning total on the board.
“There was a lot in it (pitch) initially. The ball was seaming around a lot. It was a little damp. It was a bit like a Test match. It was a question of survival in the first 4-5 overs," said Karthik.
MI, after being sent to bat first, stumbled in the beginning as two of their top order batsmen departed at the score of two, while among the rest, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kommu-Karthik-c71642 stood out notably, scoring 44 which helped his team to reach 141. Challengers, in response, batted sensibly and achieved the target comfortably for the loss of just one wicket in the 18th over.
The right-handed batsman further gave credit to the RCB bowlers, who took full benefit of the playing conditions and made scoring difficult – further restricting the hosts from playing their natural attacking game.
"Credit to their bowlers, who bowled well. If it does a lot off the wicket, it is very tough to play shots. We couldn`t get off to a start which is generally the case in T20,” said the 26-year-old MI wicketkeeper.
Karthik expressed his frustration upon a dropped catch of the inform Challengers opener, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/CH-Gayle-c1221. The big man took full use of his second life ( being dropped on 21) and went onto score an unbeaten innings of 82 of 59 balls, including six mammoth sixes and five boundaries – becoming the highest scorer of the tournament with 515 runs.
“There was one catch there for us which could have meant a lot. When a guy like that (Gayle) gets even mis-hits it goes out of the park,” said the MI middle order batsman.
Earlier, the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Harbhajan-Singh-c61453 also cited the same reason behind their defeat and was hopeful of avoiding any such missed opportunities, which could hinder their prospect of qualifying for the next stage of the competition.
MI still have four games to go in the first round of the tournament, and will be hoping to win at least three of their matches, starting from their clash against Kolkata Knight Riders on May 12, 2012.
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