Venkatesh Iyer certainly deserves praise for scoring a hundred despite playing with a bit of pain. Early in his innings at the Wankhede in Mumbai on Sunday, he was hit on his right knee as he tried the ramp shot off Mumbai Indians’ South African pacer Duan Jansen.

But after reaching the 90s, he slowed down and scored mainly in singles while Rinku Singh too couldn’t get going at the other end. That phase of play was one big reason behind Kolkata Knight Riders’ inability to get past 200 on an excellent batting surface.

Later, Iyer, too, admitted that the Knight Riders were at least 15-20 runs short, especially when they were scoring at almost 10 per over after 12 overs.

“The wicket was really nice and I was enjoying myself out there. But in hindsight, I think we did score 15-20 runs less,” Iyer, adjudged Man of the Match, said. “And the way Mumbai Indians were going, they could have scored those (extra) runs in another over or so. But yeah, we were a little short.”

Skipper Nitish Rana, who got into an exchange of words with Mumbai spinner Hrithik Shokeen following his dismissal, echoed Iyer. “Yeah, I think we were 15-20 runs short.

“Also, I feel quite bad for Venky. You play so well, score a century in a day game in Mumbai and you end up on the losing side. I really feel bad for him,” Rana stated.

The Knight Riders skipper, however, wasn’t at all pleased with his bowling unit, who failed to match the desired standards once again.

“If our best bowlers are going for runs, there’s not much to say. The way Ishan played against (Sunil) Narine was really good. But I think we could have bowled better in the Powerplay,” Rana said.

“I definitely want my bowling unit to deliver more. One or two matches are fine, but it has been five games now. People can have off days, but in back-to-back games, it hurts as a unit.”

More than the spinners, it's the Knights' pacers who looked very ordinary on Sunday.