Punjab Kings captain Sam Curran admitted they were 10-15 runs short of a par score against Gujarat Titans at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, Chandigarh on Sunday. After Curran won the toss and decided to bat first, PBKS could only post 142 runs on the board.
The hosts got off to a promising start with Sam Curran and Prabhsimran Singh adding 52 runs off 33 balls. However, after a decent opening alliance, the home team kept losing wickets at regular intervals and thus could not get the momentum.
PBKS were reduced to 99-7 with their in-form batters like Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma also being dismissed cheaply. Harpreet Brar played a crucial cameo of 12-ball 29 to help his team go past the 140-run mark.
Sai Kishore was the pick of the bowlers for Gujarat Titans as the left-arm orthodox spinner returned with impressive figures of 4-33 in his quota of four overs. Kishore used the change in pace with guile to flummox the opposition batters as he accounted for Jitesh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Shashank Singh, and Ashutosh Sharma.
On the other hand, Gujarat Titans were able to get over the line as they won by three wickets and with five balls to spare. Shubman Gill scored 35 runs whereas Rahul Tewatia added the finishing touches with a fine knock of 36 runs off 18 balls.
Sam Curran said in the post-match presentation, “I think so (we were 10-15 short). The effort with the ball was incredible, the commitment and fight was amazing, but it was not enough. The Afghanistan spinners are world class bowlers and Sai Kishore bowled really well, credit to them.”
He added, “That is the third time we have used that pitch, anything above 160 would have been a par total but we still fought well. Prabhsimran played really well in the powerplay but unfortunately we lost a cluster of wickets after that. Now we know what to do, we have to win every game.”
Punjab Kings will next take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Friday.
