Mumbai faltered in crunch situations: Tendulkar

As their semifinals hopes went up in smoke, a distraught Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar on Saturday held his batsmen responsible for the debacle as well as the inability to handle crunch situations.

Mumbai suffered a seven-wicket defeat against Chennai Super Kings here today which ended all their hopes to make the semifinal grade.

"We tried every combination. We fell short by a couple of runs in crunch moments. We could not put enough runs on board," admitted Tendulkar at the post-match ceremony.

The batting maestro felt the extras also affected their cause.

"We gave away a lot of extras, couple of byes and leg-byes in crunch situations," the Mumbaikar said.

His Super Kings counterpart Mahendra Singh Dhoni wasn't too satisfied despite the victory that ensured them a semi-final berth.

"We are committing the same mistakes in fielding. We are committing them in each and every game. If we don't get it right in the knock-out stage, we would be in for trouble," the India skipper warned.

While Matthew Hayden has been going strong, Chennai have struggled to find him a partner at the top of the order. But Dhoni was ready to give Parthiv Patel some more chance to prove his credentials.

"I think Parthiv can do it. Last year he did a good job for us. We will give him some more matches and hopefully he will get back to form," said Dhoni.

Hayden too echoed similar sentiments.

"Parthiv has been a bit unlucky today. But he is a good striker of the ball. Hope to see him continue," said Hayden when asked who ought to partner him upfront.