New Delhi: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) let their fans down during Tuesday’s Indian Premier Legaue (IPL) match against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) where the two-time winners failed to chase down a decent total of 167 runs. After a good start provided by Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine, KKR let the momentum slip in the middle overs where KXIP spinners flummoxed them by bowling a disciplined line and length.
KKR were off to a flier as the openers added 39 runs inside four overs. While Lynn continued to attack, Gambhir consumed too many dot balls and finally perished off Rahul Tewatia’s bowling.
Reflecting upon the loss, Gambhir said after the match, “I thought we started off really well. I thought me and Robin getting out was the turning point. Credit to Kings XI, they hung in there and never gave us easy runs.”
The senior left-hander accepted the fact that too many dot balls created pressure upon his team and also hinted the possibility of him getting back to open the innings in the matches to come.
“I thought the dot balls made a lot of difference. Obviously you want to be smart, you could say I could have opened and Robin could have come in at 3. But we thought Sunil has been hitting the ball well. Maybe we could think of that combination in the coming games. At one stage, we needed 7.5 or 8 an over, taking it to 10 or 11 was the turning point,” Gambhir added.
Gambhir opening the innings means Narine, who has taken the tournament by storm with some memorable cameos at the top, will have to bat lower down the order.
KKR, who are currently ranked second in the table with eight wins from 13 matches, still need one more victory to assure their place for play-offs.
They are up against Mumbai Indians next and the match will be played at Eden Gardens on Match 13.
Source: Zee News