Punjab Kings (PBKS) were too close but yet too far from the win against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their home clash. In the run chase of 183, PBKS were 27/3 after powerplay overs. This is the lowest powerplay total by a team in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Skipper Shikhar Dhawan who got out stumped off Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s bowling was not happy with PBKS batters’ shot selection.
“I feel that Shashank and Ashutosh played a great knock, we restricted them to a good total, but we couldn't cash in on the first 6 overs, lost 3 wickets and that's where we fell behind and it cost us in the end,” Dhawan told the broadcasters after PBKS’ loss to SRH by two runs.
“When the wicket wasn't offering a lot of bounce, every individual will have to look back and change their approach.”
PBKS bowlers had reduced SRH for 64/4 in the 10th over but Nitish Reddy broke free in the middle overs and helped his side accelerate. Dhawan felt that they have 10-15 runs extra in the slog overs. He wasn’t happy with Harshal Patel dropping the catch on the last ball as well.
“We dropped a catch off the last ball, we could have kept them down by 10-15 runs, but batting let us down,” he added.
Dhawan lauds PBKS finishers
Dhawan was in awe of Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma as they shared an unbeaten 66-run partnership and kept PBKS in the game till the penultimate delivery.
“It's great to see youngsters chipping in with such consistency. There was always hope that they could finish the game, but we got so close and that'll give us confidence going into the future games, but we'll have to do better going ahead,” said the 38-year-old.
PBKS' top order fails
Dhawan scored just 14 runs from 16 balls. On the other hand, his opening partner Jonny Bairstow got bowled for a three-ball duck and Prabhsimran Singh lost his wicket to Bhuvneshwar for a single-digit score.
This was PBKS' third loss of the season. They are placed sixth on the points table. PBKS will take on Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their next game on April 13.
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