Punjab Kings skipper Shikhar Dhawan lauded the effort from his bowlers as they kept Gujarat Titans at bay until the last over in an eventual win for the defending champions by 6 wickets, even though the Kings had failed to notch a par total for a second game running.
Dhawan stated that he expected his batters to take more responsibility as his side played 56 dot balls, which was simply not good enough. The match between Punjab and Gujarat went into the last over once again, Rahul Tewatia scored a boundary to guide his side to victory as they successfully chased down the required total of 154 runs with just one ball to spare.
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It was the second defeat in a row for the Mohali-based franchise, having won their first two games. In both matches, the Kings failed to rise to the occasion with the bat, Dhawan himself smashed an unbeaten 99-run knock in the previous game against Sunrisers Hyderabad but didn’t get any support, whereas, against Gujarat Titans, Matthew Short was the highest run-scorer for his side at 36, with Dhawan having a rare off-day with the bat.
“Agree with you on that thing. We did not put many runs on the board. We have to rectify that thing going forward. Absolutely - if you see the number of dot balls, if a team plays 56 balls, you end up losing the game," said Dhawan while assessing his team’s performance in the post-match presentation ceremony.
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“So we need to rectify that. Whenever a team lose early wickets, they go on the back foot but we need to work on that. Our batting unit needed to give more of a cushion to the bowling unit," Dhawan added.
After a below performance from the home side with the bat, Gujarat Titans bowlers enjoyed a feast as all of them picked up at least one wicket each, while Mohit Sharma got two wickets and had a comeback to remember in the IPL.
Hardik Pandya’s side also gave a good account of themselves with the bat as Shubman Gill scored another handy knock of 67 from 49 balls, while David Miller and Tewatia provided the finishing touches.
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Meanwhile, Dhawan also provided an update on Liam Livingstone’s fitness, the Englishman has been battling finishing issues post an injury but there’s some good news for the Kings, Livingstone might be soon fit enough to start according to the skipper.
“He came for practice yesterday, he pulled his muscle and another 2-3 days, he should be good to go," added Shikhar.
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