'We are giving opposition a lot of chances whereas we are not getting those chances, which is probably the reason we are at the bottom at the moment.'
Disappointed after his side's fifth defeat in six matches this IPL season, Kings XI Punjab's Australian import Glenn Maxwell said ordinary bowling and fielding has let the team down.
"We are giving opposition a lot of chances whereas we are not getting those chances, which is probably the reason we are at the bottom (of the league table) at the moment," said Maxwell, at the post-match press conference after Kings lost to Mumbai Indians by 25 runs.
Parthiv Patel (81) and Ambati Rayudu (65) weaved a 137-run partnership to help Mumbai set Kings a target of 190.
Maxwell top-scored with a 56 off 39 balls, while Shaun Marsh (45 off 34 balls) and skipper David Miller (30 not out off 17 balls) were the other main contributors as Punjab fell short by 25 runs.
Maxwell rued at the mistakes his side committed in the match.
"We had Parthiv (Patel) a couple of times but there was a no-ball and the stumping was a little bit too slow. We gave too many chances on the field. We bowled a no-ball to get the wicket and that player (Parthiv) went on to get 80. So that is a pretty big difference as he was struggling at that stage and had probably 28 or 30," Maxwell said.
"Later he gets away and gets a second life and then he is able to play his natural game. We did the same thing for Rayudu. He gets dropped and that opened up the game. Again, he's able to play his free natural-flowing game, hits a couple of sixes and puts us back under pressure," he added.
Mitchell Johnson had left-handed Parthiv caught in the sixth over, but the Mumbai opener got a lease of life as it turned out be a no-ball.
Ambati Rayudu was dropped by Axar Patel off Pradeep Sahu in the ninth over when he was batting on 33.
Replying to a question, Maxwell conceded that nothing seems to be going right for the team at the moment.
"No, it doesn't," he said.
The team’s bowlers also came in for criticism from the Australian.
"If you look at the scoreboard after 12 overs, I think, it was 108-109 (for Mumbai); that was ridiculous because we had done so well throughout that Powerplay and all we needed was one or two more breakthroughs. And we just kept on finding ways to let them slip. Our fielding let us down massively in this game."
To a question about his own form in the earlier games, Maxwell said there was nothing wrong with his form.
"There has been nothing wrong with my form; I have been hitting the ball as good as ever."
Asked if Kings XI was too desperate for a victory after a string of defeats, Maxwell replied: "No one was trying to make a mistake, but it seems we were making mistakes at crucial times in games where other teams were taking good catches there, they were getting direct hits... just hasn't quite rolled our way."
He felt that still all is not lost for Kings and they have the capability to turn things around and make it to the play-offs.
"All we need is to get couple of wins in a row. Honestly, I think anything can happen in this game. We are going to need to do a lot of things right that we have been doing wrong so far. I think we need to be honest with each other. We haven't been good enough in all three facets in a complete game yet. We've got to do everything right from now on," he said.
"We just have to be clinical in what we do with the bat, ball and in the field. We're just lacking a bit of polish at the moment and I'm sure that's going to hopefully come after this short little break before we head to Rajkot."
