Harbhajan blames it on young guns' failure to fire

“Sachin is better now. But his coming out due to cramp was the cause for our loss. Youngsters like Ambati Rayadu and Saurabh Tiwari were out quickly and we were not able to put up good partnerships. It is part of the game. If Sachin had stayed at the wicket for 15 overs, the story would have been different,” Harbhajan said after his side lost the match by 24 runs.

Harbhajan conceded the youngsters failed to perform on the day but hoped that they would do better in the remaining matches.

“We have to give them lot of encouragement for what they have done. They have won a lot of games for us. This is one of the games that they did not click. We have lot of faith in them. They are all young and exciting cricketers. I am sure they will do better in our future games,” he said.

Man-of-the-match Suresh Raina said the victory over Mumbai Indians was a collective effort.
“Everyone’s bowled well today. 150-160 is tough to defend. In such a scenario we needed to field well, and today we fielded exceptionally. Jakati, Thushara and Ashwin bowled well, didn’t give MI too many boundary balls,” he said. “I am happy that we have struck momentum. Having won three matches in a row, we are in a good position to reach the semifinals.

“But we want to keep this winning streak going and we have few big matches coming up. All of them are do-or-die matches,” he added.