Delhi Daredevils skipper Mahela Jayawardene is confident of his team making the knockout stage despite five defeats in a row. “We will give ourselves a chance to get into the final four if we can win the home games. That is something we really have to focus on,” said Jayawardene, disappointed after the narrow loss to RCB in the super over.
“Virender Sehwag did not come out to bat in the crucial super over as he was not on the field for the last three overs and wasn’t eligible to bat in the super over. If I had that option I would have fancied sending Sehwag, but that option wasn’t there for me,” the skipper clarified.
“We need to develop a positive frame of mind. We just need to get a few results going our way. We probably tend to make negative decisions. So those are things we need to somehow get rid of from our minds and be very positive. It is important that we go with a positive frame of mind because we have a very good team. The talent is there, the ability is there,” the Sri Lankan added.
“I am glad my teammates kept fighting back and kept the team in the game till the end. Until the 16th over, the game was over for us, but with a couple of wickets we could manage to put some pressure on their tailenders. We did not take some good decisions during that period and that is how the game goes,” Jayawardene said.
“We probably were 10-20 runs short. Yes we had a good game but no points. These are the mistakes we have been repeating in last four to five games in crucial situations. We are not being clinical enough in execution,” said Jayawardene.
Kohli happy
RCB captain Virat Kohli said that the West Indies all-rounder Ravi Rampaul made all the difference. “When we were buying players this year, I specially told the team management that I want Ravi (Rampaul) in the side because he can be deadly with the bat. And if we didn’t have that six (he had hit in the last over), we would have lost the game. He made the difference in the end,” Kohli said.
“He is a brilliant guy to have in a T20 squad. As a bowler, he has been brilliant in these two games that we played against strong batting line-ups. He can bowl at a good pace too,” he said.