Mark Boucher, the head coach of the Mumbai Indians, on his team’s defeat by the Punjab Kings: “Let it slip towards the end of our bowling.”

At the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 22, the 31st game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 saw an exciting match between the five-time champion Mumbai Indians and the Sam Curran-led Punjab Kings. The Punjab Kings scored an astounding 214 runs despite electing to bat first after losing the toss, thanks to outstanding performances from Sam Curran, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, and Jitesh Sharma.

Harpreet scored 41 runs in 28 balls, Curran amassed 55 runs in 29 deliveries, and Sharma played a blitzkrieg knock of 25 runs in only seven deliveries. In their attempt to reach the mark, the hosts came very close thanks to the tenacious efforts of Rohit Sharma, Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, and Tim David. The scores, however, were in vain as Punjab ultimately prevailed by 13 runs in the game thanks to an outstanding last over from Arshdeep Singh. In the press conference following the game, Mumbai’s head coach, Mark Boucher, commented on the team’s performance.

“I believed that the game was still in doubt. We batted tonight, in my opinion, pretty well. That they may have received too many runs is regrettable. Because generally, in my opinion, if I examine the game, we had some measure of control but let it slide toward the end of our bowling.

Getting some runs is always helpful for Suryakumar Yadav. Mark Boucher

Star Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav’s performance was among the game’s high points for Mumbai. Suryakumar eventually came through and played a fantastic knock against the Punjab Kings, scoring 57 runs in 26 balls after a string of disappointing performances at the IPL 2023.

Boucher stated the following in reference to the same: “It’s always wonderful for Suryakumar Yadav to get some runs. His physical appearance is odd since you can sometimes judge it based on numbers. It was only a matter of time before he converted his excellent in-net performance into runs. I’m therefore delighted for him.

“He’ll feel right at home. It is encouraging for Mumbai Indians’ future that he is in good form, striking the ball so softly, and playing the kind of devastating innings he did tonight.