Mumbai Indians bowling coach Paras Mhambrey admitted that even on a challenging Eden Gardens pitch his team should have scored some more runs to beat Kolkata Knight Riders in the return leg of their IPL contest.

Mhambrey said losing four wickets for 46 runs in the PowerPlay hampered his team’s progress as it managed 147 for eight. Eventually, MI lost the match by four wickets.

“It wasn’t an easy pitch. Not a normal Eden Gardens wicket. It had a spongy bounce. It was just a little bit up and down that made stroke-making a little difficult. Credit to them that they bowled well. When you lose four wickets in the PowerPlay, it’s always difficult to come back. We were some 20-25 runs short on this pitch. We still could have managed 160 [with a partnership]. And that would have been really competitive,” said Mhambrey.

“It’s all about partnerships. We lost wickets regularly and it was very difficult for us to construct a partnership.”

Asked about the catches which MI could not grab, Mhambrey said that was part and parcel of the game.

Mhambrey said MI would focus on winning its last match against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday without bothering about its impact on RR’s prospects of making it to the playoffs.