New Delhi: Kings XI Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin was a relieved man after a tense four-run win over Delhi Daredevils at the Kotla in IPL XI on Monday evening.
Punjab failed to post a big total on the board in the absence of Chris Gayle, but despite that their bowlers managed to take them home and helped them reach top of the points table.
“If we were serious about winning, this is a game we needed to win,” he said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
It was a rather disciplined bowling effort by Punjab as none of the bowlers gave Delhi batsmen to free their arms. The pick of the bowlers though was pacer Ankit Rajpoot, who returned with figures of 2/23. Afghanistan youngster Mujeeb Ur Rahman impressed too.
“I decided Mujeeb will be bowling the 20th over. I thought AJ (Tye) was the best bowler on the day. Delhi batsmen wanted to attack, which fell in our hands,” Ashwin added.
Debutant Prithvi Shaw had got Daredevils to a good start but they couldn’t capitalise on it. Shreyas Iyer’s 57 got them close to the target, but that didn’t prove enough, and got out on the last ball of the match.
A disappointed Delhi skipper Gautam Gambhir said, “When you lose three wickets in the first six overs, it’s always difficult.”
“Avesh (Khan) bowled well, (Prithvi) Shaw is a player for the future. We’ve got to win seven games. Our bowling was good today, but couldn’t cross the line.”
“It was really disappointing to lose such a close game. I think we should have won this match. It is really frustrating for all of us,” Daredevils fast bowler Liam Plunkett said at the post-match press conference.
“It was a match we could have won… We are really disappointed.”
Having lost five out of their six matches, bottom-placed Daredevils host Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday.
“We will still believe in ourselves and we know we can win. It is a matter of one win to set the ball rolling. I think we can do it in our next match,” said Plunkett.
Drafted in for the injured Khagiso Rabada, the Englishman made instant impression on his IPL debut, returning with impressive figures of 3/17 in four overs.
“It was a great feeling to finally get a game in the IPL. I wanted to perform well for the side and I am extremely happy that I was able to take crucial wickets on my debut in the competition, he said.
From the beginning, we knew that the wicket will assist bowlers and this was really similar to the turf I played on during the 2016 ICC World T20. I played three games for England at this venue and that experience helped me in getting accustomed to the situation,” said Plunkett.
