Rajasthan Royals opener Jos Buttler admitted that his side's top order has failed to perform in the last three games that has cost them dear in the Indian Premier League so far.
The Royals suffered a 57 run-loss to defending champions Mumbai Indians -- their third defeat on the trot -- with only Buttler contributing a sizeable score (70) here on Tuesday.
"We have not managed to come off as a top-order in the last three games. We have lost three wickets in the power-play a few times and in T20 cricket you never win too many games from that position," Buttler said at the media conference after the match.
"Of course, the power-play is a time you have to take advantage due to the field restrictions, but as players we have not performed but that can happen in T20 cricket,” the Englishman added.
Chasing a big target of 194, the Royals were struggling at 12 for 3 in the third over and they never recovered from there despite a blazing 70 off 44 balls from Buttler. They were eventually bundled out for 136.
"We lost wickets. Mumbai bowled really well and we never got into our innings. As a batsman, you are always vulnerable early on in your innings and as a top order we didn't manage to counteract the opening bowling well enough to get through that period,” the 30-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman said.
For Mumbai, Suryakumar Yadav made a blazing unbeaten 79 off 47 balls to post a challenging 193 for 4. Buttler praised Yadav for using angles and his crease to perfection.
"He (Suryakumar) played a fantastic innings. We could not quite tie (him) down. He used the angles and his crease really well and he is a fantastic player. We could not execute our plans to him but full credit to him. He played a very good innings,” Butter, himself a T20 specialist, said.
Talking about himself, Buttler said he would take confidence from his good show against Mumbai Indians to the games ahead.
“I have not been feeling my best in the middle. It was good for me to spend time in the middle, find a bit of fluency further on in the innings. I struggled initially, but hopefully I can take some confidence from today and use that for the rest of the tournament," the right-handed batsman said.
He also had words of praise for young Karthik Tyagi, who made his IPL debut.
“He is a really exciting talent. One thing the IPL always does is unearth fantastic Indian players and he impressed in the nets and worked hard to get his opportunity to make his debut. It was a great moment for him and everyone in the team when he picked up his first wicket," Buttler signed off.
