We should have posted 200 against MI: KKR’s Manish Pandey

Kolkata, April 14 (IANS) After losing to defending champions Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter here, Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) top-order batsman Manish Pandey has said his team should have posted a target of at least 200 runs.

Mumbai Indians pocketed the game by six wickets chasing KKR's 187/5 in the contest on Wednesday at the Eden Gardens.

"With the way we started, probably we should have got at least 20 runs more to post around 200. At least myself, Gautibhai (Gautam Gambhir) or (Andre) Russell should have carried on till the end," Pandey, who belted 52 off 29 balls told reporters here.

"In the middle overs, we were thinking 200, that's what we were discussing. After I got out, Russell had a decent partnership with the captain. There was a stage when there were new batsmen at both ends. It's not easy for any team to have two new batsmen on the crease and stepping on the gas. That's what we lacked a bit, I believe," he said.

The Knights were on a roll till the 17th over with 163 already on the scorecard for the loss of only two wickets but then Mumbai clawed their way back into the game in the last three overs.

In the hunt, Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma (not out 84) led from the front and they easily cruised past the target with five balls to spare.

But Pandey still insisted that they had a good total on the board.

"Batting first, you don't know exactly how many runs you need. On any given day, if you score 180-plus batting first, you normally think you would win the game. For any team, it's a good total. A total which can be defended," Pandey said.

"The wicket became a little better and it gave a little bit of advantage. I think that's what Mumbai capitalised on."

Pandey added that they have some brilliant players in the squad and they would take the loss as a lesson.

"We were banking on our bowlers as we have a good spin attack and some decent fast bowling. But on odd days, you just end up losing such games. You've to learn from this and we would do better, bouncing back from this loss," he said.