IPL 2019 | We wanted to try and create more opportunities against KKR, reveals Mahela Jayawardene

It was a ‘do or die’ encounter for Dinesh Karthik-led Kolkata Knight Riders as they went up against a formidable Mumbai Indians side at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. However, the visitors looked to have succumbed under pressure as they lost the match by nine wickets and ultimately failed to make the play-off stage with Sunrisers Hyderabad going through.

Home team coach, Mahela Jayawardene, was impressed with his team’s performance last night as he revealed that their bowling plan was to be ‘unpredictable’ in order to create more wicket-taking chances for themselves on home soil.

“I thought we were bit predictable in Kolkata and in that scenario they batted well. So, we wanted to make sure that we don’t give them that familiarity and try and create opportuniies to take wickets,” Jayawardene said at the post-match press conference.

The former Sri Lankan skipper heaped praise on the Pandya brothers - Hardik and Kunal - who did well with the ball to restrict KKR to a below-par total of 133/7 from 20 overs.

“We didn’t get wickets but Hardik came and picked up those wickets and I thought Krunal bowled brilliantly to keep the pressure on and it was a good combination. Then Malinga with his experience, coming back and picking couple of wickets, we just didn’t gave them loose balls this time around and that’s what a quality attack can do,” Jayawardene added.

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