Punjab Kings stand-in skipper Mayank Agarwal feels his team was at least 10 runs short of a par score against Delhi Capitals at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Sunday.
PBKS were able to post a competitive total of 166 runs after Rishabh Pant won the toss and decided to bowl first.
Agarwal’s fine knock of unbeaten 99 runs took the team to a fighting score but at one stage it looked like PBKS will struggle to go past the 150-run mark. However, Agarwal was able to finish on a high but his team kept losing wickets at regular intervals in the middle overs and thus could not get the momentum.
Apart from Agarwal, only David Malan, the number one T20I batsman, scored a run-a-ball 26. PBKS scored 38 runs in the last three overs and the majority of it was scored by Mayank Agarwal. The opener who is known for his flamboyant batting, scored eight fours and four sixes and scored his runs at a strike rate of 170.69. Thus, Agarwal was able to step up in the absence of full-time skipper KL Rahul.
However, his knock went in vain as Delhi Capitals cruised to the total with seven wickets in hand and 14 balls to spare after Shikhar Dhawan scored an unbeaten knock of 69 runs to continue his good form and get his team over the line.
Despite PBKS’ loss, Mayank Agarwal was awarded the Player of the match. Agarwal added that it is crucial to keep moving in a tournament like the IPL and they will look to get back to winning ways in their next match.
Agarwal said in the post-match presentation, “He’s (KL Rahul) going for a surgery, hopefully he should be back. Would’ve liked two points but we were ten short on that wicket and for the kind of PowerPlay they had, we had to really scramble there. One batsman had to bat through and that was the plan, it was my day and tried to get as many as we could but didn’t get as many in the middle overs but at least ended well. We have to shut this off and turn up for the next game and put our best foot forward, figure out how to get those two points. Kudos to Harpreet, the way he turned up and also hit a crucial boundary, he’s bowling exceedingly well. It’s about doing well as a unit, hopefully we will do well in the next game”.
PBKS will next face Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on 6th May.
