Losing wickets at last 5 overs did us in: Laxman

“We kept losing wickets at regular intervals and that never ended,” said a dejected Laxman.

“We could not maintain a healthy scoring rate and in the last five overs, lost just too many wickets,” he lamented.

“Personally, I’m happy to score some runs but I wish I could carry it forward,” Laxman said.

His opposite number Yuvraj Singh was elated with the performance and he said bowlers did a good job by restricting the hosts to a modest target.

“We were able to restrict them to a modest total and then Mahela (Jayawardene) and Shaun (Marsh) came up with (an unbeaten) partnership to see us through. They were very professional,” Yuvraj said.

Asked if the team had already started about the semifinals, Yuvraj said, “It’s too early to talk about semifinals. We can only say after the league matches are over.”

Mohali coach Tom Moody meanwhile heaped praise on Marsh, whose unbeaten 85 off 62 balls earned him the Man of the Match award.

“He has got a bright future and his performance tonight was not a surprise for us,” Moody said.