Although the Gujarat Titans (GT) returned to winning ways with their victory over the Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Thursday, April 14, the GT captain Hardik Pandya was not happy that like left it too late to secure the two points in Mohali on Thursday, April 13.
"To be very honest I would not appreciate the game going this deep. There was definitely a lot for us to learn from this game. That's the beauty of sports, it's never over till it's over. We need to go back to the drawing board," Pandya said in the post-match presentation.
Chasing 154 for the win, the defending Indian Premier League (IPL) champions got off to a flier via Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill but the required rate began inflating after the wicket of Saha fell. Young Sai Sudharsan, who has been impressive after being drafted into the Playing XI, who dismissed cheaply by Arshdeep Singh off 19 runs from 20 balls.
Then followed skipper Pandya, who failed to rotate the strike in the middle overs and was finally out trying to play a cross-batted heave off Harpreet Brar. David Miller joined the party with GT needing less than 100 runs off 90 or so balls and a required rate still under eight runs per over. The South African tried to keep the scoreboard ticking with Gill but failed to do so as the Kings clawed their way back into the game.
In the final over, with seven runs needed for the win, Curran nailed his yorkers and bagged the scalp of Gill. However, Rahul Tewatia played a stunning lap shot to seal victory in the penultimate ball of the match.
Hardik believes that his batters should have taken more risks in the middle overs of the match. "They bowled really well. We should take risks and play shots in the middle overs, need to make sure the game doesn't go so deep. The ball was getting dried up, but the wicket was a belter.
"It would have been a tough pill to swallow if the game had gone the other way. I would like to finish the game earlier, not a big fan of taking it to the last over," he said.
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