Win over MI gives KKR confidence, says Gautam Gambhir

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Gautam Gambhir has said that his team’s convincing win over Mumbai Indians boosted up the players’ confidence ahead of their final league match against Pune Warriors India.

The Kolkata skipper was not reluctant to admit that a defeat would have put his side under tremendous pressure before the final first-round encounter.

Thanks to brilliant bowling by Sunil Narine Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Mumbai by 32 runs in an important Indian Premier League (IPL) match on Wednesday.

Batting first, the Knight Riders scored 140 runs in 20 overs. After Gambhir’s quick 27 runs at the top order, Manoj Towary played a crucial 41-run-innings to take his side to a challenging total.

In reply, the Indians were unable to achieve the target despite a good start provided by the two opening batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar and Herschelle Gibbs. Narine was star of the show for Kolkata, as he grabbed four critical wickets
only for 15 wickets.

Enormously delighted over his team’s win, Gambhir said that a loss would have inflicted tremendous amount of pressure on his teammates.

"If we had lost this we would have been under pressure. Today’s win will give us confidence," he said at the post-match press conference.

"I don’t think we had enough, but after losing two wickets early then 140 was a good total. If we win the next one we’ll be in the top two," he added.

On the other hand, Mumbai captain Harbhajan Singh was disappointed with his batsmen’s poor performance. The Indians are now in do-or-die situation, as they will have to win their only remaining match in order to stay in race
for the playoffs.

"I don’t think there was much fault in the wicket, I think we need to sort out our technique and how to bat in the first six overs. We haven’t been playing great cricket. Boys need to pick up their game," he said after the match.

On his brilliant bowling show, Narine, who scooped the ‘Man of the Match’ award, stated, "I’m having a dream at this moment, hard work is paying off. Hopefully it will continue."

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Posted by Rana Nasir Ghafoor on May 17 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry