Ben Cutting opines repeated middle order failure cost Mumbai Indians the title

Australian all-rounder Ben Cutting has lashed out on Mumbai’s middle-order failure and described it as the prime reason for not qualifying in the playoff stage this season.

Cutting nearly pulled out a victory from a lost cause for Mumbai Indians at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Sunday night, but the Aussie got out on the second ball of the last over as the defending champions finished their IPL 2018 without a qualification for the knockout stage.

With 175 required to win against Delhi Daredevils in order to secure their playoff berth, Mumbai lost the plot midway on 122 for 7 when Cutting smashed 37 off 20 deliveries, with two fours and three sixes. But he was dismissed in the final over when 12 runs were needed to hand over the victory to bottom-placed Delhi Daredevils. Following the loss, Ben Cutting blamed the Mumbai middle-order batsmen for their continuous failure which cost them a place in the playoffs.

Speaking to Wisden India, the 28-year-old was quoted as saying, “I think the target was more or less achievable. We have seen a variety of scores on this ground during this IPL from 200 to Chennai struggling to get 130-140 the other night. But the way that we went about our work at the start with the bat was perfect. We just sort of lost our way through the middle overs as it has tended to happen this IPL. But that score was pretty close to par, maybe five runs too many.”

Cutting declines blaming Markande for the loss

Ben Cutting, with young Mayank Markande, added 35 runs in their eighth-wicket stand. However, Markande could only manage 3 runs from 10 deliveries. Asked if the leggie’s slow rate of scoring had impacted on the loss, Cutting immediately shut down the question and replied that in such surface, it’s not possible for the number 9,10 or 11 to do the job.

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