Mumbai Indians (MI) head coach Mahela Jayawardene conceded that fielding errors and poor bowling execution led to their downfall in the IPL 2025 Qualifier 2 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Ahmedabad on Sunday (June 1).

In the must-win fixture, the five-time champions failed to defend a big total of 203 and hence crashed out of the tournament.

Riding on skipper Shreyas Iyer’s unbeaten 87 off 41 balls, PBKS chased down the target with five wickets in hand and an over to spare.

After the game, Jayawardene addressed a press conference, where he listed put positives despite falling short of the prize.

"It was a good campaign for us, the way we started and how we regrouped as a team and played some really, really good cricket," Jayawardene told reporters.

"We had our opportunities getting to the playoffs, and we had a really good game first half and even today, I thought we played some good cricket except for Kings playing better cricket than us. Especially with the bat, they were solid, especially chasing 200. It's not that easy, they executed that pretty well."

Jayawardene emphasized two dropped catches as crucial moments in the game, though he acknowledged that fortune had favoured them in previous matches.

"We made a few blunders obviously with those two catches but I think that's how the game goes, we had those luck going our way in the previous games. It was a good game of cricket and we came short, I think that's as simple as that," he explained.

Chasing 204 in a high-pressure contest, Punjab needed someone to bat with control and authority. Iyer stepped up and delivered a knock that combined calculated aggression with clarity under pressure.

The PBKS captain was ably supported by Nehal Wadhera (48 off 29) and Josh Inglis (38 off 21).

"In phases, they batted well. We also came back and took the wickets and were in it, which is that middle phase, we just couldn't control that after the tenth over. Those four-five overs, we just couldn't keep the pressure going, and that's where especially Nehal and Shreyas, their partnership probably took the game away from us," Jayawardene said.

MI’s strategy of taking pace off the ball and bowling yorkers, which had served them well throughout the season, backfired in this crucial match.

"We also took some pace off, but like I said earlier, our execution wasn't up to the mark, we have to take that [blame]. Even we bowled pretty good yorkers throughout the campaign and we just couldn't get those yorkers going as well [today]," Jayawardene remarked.

"So it's just execution and that can happen and they put us under pressure as well, so when they hit those vital blows in that middle phase, especially those sixes, that's something that we need to stop in this kind of situation, but we just couldn't do that."

With this victory, Punjab Kings reached their first IPL final since 2014 and will face Royal Challengers Bengaluru on June 3 at the Narendra Modi Stadium.