We faltered in the last 10 balls: Jayawardene

New Delhi - Delhi Daredevils skipper Mahela Jayawardene admitted that his team faltered in the last 10 balls while chasing 166 against Rajasthan Royals, suffering their second consecutive loss in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here Saturday.

Daredevils needed nine runs off the last six balls but managed three and lost two wickets, going down by five runs.

“We paced it well, the wicket was good, fast outfield, everything went well except for the last 10 balls. On the field, they did much better than us. It is one of those games in T20, you get close,” he said.

“The opposition held their nerves in the end pretty well. The situation we were in, it looked they would score 180-190 but we did well in death bowling,” he added.

The Sri Lankan was all praise for pacer Umesh Yadav, who finished with 4/24.

“After coming back form injury, Umesh is bowling well. It is tough to bowl in this format. Umesh has’t played too much this year and I was very happy with the team’s performance. They have progressed well. We are still trying to find the right combination. Happy with the team’s effort, youngsters have done well,” he said.

Jayawardene said his team can improve their fielding.

“Fielding is one area we can improve. This game, overall, was good for us. Don’t write us off just yet, there is still a long way to go. It will be tough after losing our opening two matches and not having any momentum but it’s a long tournament and anything can happen,” he said.

Asked about his own performance, the skipper said: “I am happy with my batting. I have been hitting the ball well.”

On Virender Sehwag‘s availability, Mahela said: “Viru is working very hard and is making positive progress. We don’t want to rush him. He is really important for us and we don’t want a situation where he plays one match and then is out for the next three. We are taking it one day at a time and hopefully he will be fit soon.”