Punjab Kings’ new recruit Odean Smith feels they need to believe they can win the IPL title for the first time after helping his team get off to a winning start against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai on Sunday.
Smith was roped in for a whopping amount of INR six crores by PBKS in IPL 2022 mega auction and he was able to justify his price tag in the team’s opening clash.
The West Indies all-rounder could not execute the right line and length with the ball as he was taken for 52 runs in his quota of four overs. However, the hard-hitter was able to turn the match on its head with his blistering batting as he played a fine cameo of 8-ball 25. The right-hander scored one four and three maximums to get his team over the line.
Smith had the rub of the green on his side as he was dropped by Anuj Rawat after he had only got off the mark. He made RCB pay for that drop as Mohammed Siraj was taken for 25 runs in the 18th over. Smith was awarded the Player of the match for his cameo.
He said in the post-match presentation, “We were stressing on having a good start. We just needed to have that belief. Didn’t go so well with the bowling. I need to work on a few things. Batting was good as I helped my team to win. It was all about execution and I couldn’t and that’s why it went haywire. Punjab hasn’t won the title so far but we need to have the belief. We watched ’14 peaks’, 13 remain for us.”
On the other hand, Bhanuka Rajapaksha also played a key role in the run-chase as he scored 43 runs off 22 balls with the help of two fours and four sixes. The left-hander was able to take the attack against his Sri Lankan teammate Wanindu Hasaranga and it came off for PBKS.
Rajapaksha said after the game, “What we thought was that we’d just have a free hit. Shikhar wanted me to be aggressive although I had just come out to the middle. I knew how Hasaranga bowls. It was about knowing him and playing him for the last 4-5 years now. I bought my local knowledge and it worked. This win is a huge confidence booster. We watched this movie called ’14 Peaks’ and we have 14 games. Every game is a batter’s game. The credit should go to the bowlers to restrict them to 200. But in the middle-overs, we gave away around 130 runs in the last 8-9 overs. But I am sure the bowlers will come up with better plans in the future.”
Punjab Kings will look to continue the good show in the upcoming matches but they would look to pull up their socks in the bowling department. PBKS will next face Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Friday.
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