MUMBAI: Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya picked Chennai Super Kings' Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana as the reason for his team's 20-run defeat in Match 29 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
Pathirana, who came in as an Impact Substitute, made the difference as he finished with 4-28 in four overs as Mumbai Indians lost the plot from 70 for no loss in the eighth over.
It was in this over that Pathirana made the breakthrough for CSK by getting rid of Ishan Kishan for 23 off 15 and followed it up by getting the dangerous Suryakumar Yadav for a zero with a short and wide delivery. From 70/2, Mumbai Indians failed to recover and despite a brilliant century by former skipper Rohit Sharma, were restricted to 186/6 in 20 overs.
Pandya, who asked CSK to bat first after winning the toss, was hammered for 20 runs off four balls by former CSK and India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. While batting, Pandya could manage only two off six balls as his team lost steam and fell to their fourth defeat in six matches.
Pandya said Pathirana made the difference for CSK as the target for definitely gettable.
"Definitely, gettable. But they bowled pretty well and Pathirana was the difference. They were smart with their plans and used the longer boundary well, " said Pandya during the post-match presentation.
He said the CSK skipper was getting good advice from the experienced Dhoni on what was working and what was not, obliquely hinting that he was not getting any such support from his predecessor Rohit Sharma.
"They got the hang of it and they have a man behind the stumps telling them what's working. The ball was slightly gripping and they got ahead of the game. Until Pathirana came, we were on course for the total, " said Pandya.
The Mumbai Indians skipper left experts baffled as he did not give full quota to Mohd Nabi, who gave away only 19 runs in three overs, while fellow spinner Shreyas Gopal got only one over in which he took one wicket for nine runs. Pandya took upon himself the responsibility to bowl the final over and was carted around by Dhoni.
"It was just about what was best at that point, " said Pandya on whether they could have used a spinner with Shivam Dube at the crease, adding that it was more difficult to hit seamers on this wicket.
"We are now on the road for the next four games. If we are smart, we can get the goal we want, " he added.