New Delhi:
Six-wicket defeat against Gujarat Lions was pretty devastating, Kings XI Punjab skipper Glenn Maxwell said at the presentation ceremony.
Putting the blame of the defeat on the team’s horrendous fielding effort, Maxwell said the dropped catches hurt the team badly.
“189 was enough, the bowlers and fielders let us down. We dropped three crucial catches. We haven’t won a heap of games in a row. We’ve had to scrap. Unfortunately, we’ll lose Hashim and David Miller now, and we’ll have to look deep in our reserves and regroup,” he said.
“We had too many injuries (this year). (But) still a good season for the youngsters,” Suresh Raina said after the win.
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Openers Dwayne Smith and Ishan Kishan lauded by the Gujarat Lions skipper for setting the platform for the comfortable win.
“Smithy (Smith) and Ishan gave us the platform and later on me and DK (Dinesh Karthik) had a good partnership. I think it was about six-over partnerships. Sandy (Sandeep Sharma) and Mohit (Sharma) bowled brilliantly in between, but me and DK rotated the strike really well. When you’re chasing 190, you need a good start, and that’s what we’ve had in the last couple of matches,” Raina said.
Smith, who smashed 74 runs was awarded ‘man of the match’. “Still disappointed about my performances over the past games. I think my natural game is like that, it was just about staying out there as long as possible, and if I do that we’ll stay in front of the run rate,” he said.
With inputs from PTI.
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