Losing quick wickets cost us the match: Mahela Jayawardene

Kolkata: Delhi Daredevils skipper Mahela Jayawardene blamed loss of too many quick wickets for their six-wicket loss to Kolkata Knight Riders in the opening game of the Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens here Wednesday.

"On this pitch, 150 was a good score but we kept on losing wickets at regular intervals which cost us 20-30 runs in the end, which eventually cost us the match. The pitch was slow and in the effort to pace up the scoring we lost too many wickets which made the difference in the end," Jayawardene said after the match. The Sri Lankan, who top scored with 66 runs, hoped his batsmen do not repeat the mistake of losing their wickets cheaply. Jayawardene also said his inexperienced batting line up found it difficult to read KKR`s mystery offie Sunil Narine who took four wickets to restricts the Daredevils to 128. "We have quite a few youngsters in the team who have never played Narine and obviously he was a handful for them. Narine bowled very well not only to stifle the scoring but also took wickets at crucial intervals. But as the tournament progresses they will learn," said Jayawardene. The skipper also said dashing opener Virender Sehwag who missed the game due to injury is likely to play in the next match. "We did not want to risk him as he just recuperated from injury so gave him more time to rest and practice. Hopefully he will be available for the next game," added Jayewardene. IANS