A nine-ball 26, a fight right until the end, and Jordan Thompson can be a proud man. Although MI Emirates weren’t able to get over the line on Thursday (February 8), he was happy with the team’s effort, and was confident of finishing in the top two as he spoke to the media at the end of the day’s play in the post-match press conference. Excerpts..

On taking the game too deep

It was important we took the chase deep. It was a good pitch in the powerplay, but unfortunately we lost two or three early wickets. It was important that Polly (Kieron Pollard) and Odean (Smith) took it deep, but unfortunately we couldn’t get over the last hurdle. 

On his batting approach

You try and measure how many balls you have and how many runs you need. With 30 off the last over, you have to swing and hit boundaries. Our batsmen were trying to take it deep. Unfortunately we couldn’t get over the line. 

Whether complacency is creeping in…

Absolutely not at all. We have had a few guys coming in after a few of them left. We kept them to a respectable total. On another day if we bat slightly better, we’d chase that scored down. 

On the crowd and the venues

It’s been fantastic. I love coming to the UAE to play cricket. The fans have been better than last year. The tournament is only going upwards. It’s a great event to play in. 

Thoughts on the business end of the league

I think, fingers crossed, we’ve made the top two. If we win that Qualifier, we make it to the final. That’s the aim and hopefully we’d be heading that way.