Rush of wickets did the damage, says Cutting

Ben Cutting blamed the loss of wickets in the middle overs for Mumbai Indians' 11-run defeat to Delhi Daredevils on Sunday.

The defeat ended Mumbai's chances in the Indian Premier League as they finished with 12 points from 14 matches.

“We had similar problems that we had in the past. We lost 4/30 through the middle of the match. We got close but it dragged us down at the end of the day,” said Cutting who kept Mumbai in the hunt with a 20-ball 37.

“The target of 174 was more or less achievable. What I have seen is the variation of scores on this ground. The way we started with the bat was perfect, it’s just we lost our way in the middle.”

Cutting, however, felt the tournament was good this season. “I would love to see pitches favouring bowlers more. I would love to see two bouncers coming over. But IPL as a whole has been good, it’s been the fresh auctions I think. We see how the points table come down to today’s game to decide the final four, that’s what you want from a tournament like this,” he said.

Meanwhile, Daredevils chief coach Ricky Ponting expressed satisfaction with the way their young crop responded this season. He particularly showered praise on Rishabh Pant -- who finished the season with 684 runs including a century and five half-centuries -- and captain Shreyas Iyer, who led impressively after Gautam Gambhir stepped down mid-season.

"It's been an outstanding season for him (Pant). Obviously he is wearing the orange cap right now and it would be great if he can manage to retain the orange cap by the end of the season. If we had an even contribution from a few more of the top order we could have been a threat. Shreyas Iyer had a very good season but there was not enough consistency for our batting group to be up there with the leading teams," Ponting said.

"Prithvi Shaw, Sandeep (Lamichhane) are some of the talented players we have and I hope they will have a long and successful IPL career here with us.

“Shreyas, stepping up for the captaincy, was a daunting thing to do. He held the challenge well. He is a tremendous young guy and I won't be surprised if I see more leadership role for him in future."