We're back alive: Gilchrist
Back in the play-off race after upsetting table toppers Mumbai Indians by 76 runs in an IPL match on Tuesday, Kings XI Punjab skipper Adam Gilchrist hoped that the win will reverse his side's fortune in the ongoing Twenty20 tournament.
- Press Trust of India
- Updated: May 11, 2011 08:41 am IST
Back in the play-off race after upsetting table toppers Mumbai Indians by 76 runs in an IPL match on Tuesday, Kings XI Punjab skipper Adam Gilchrist hoped that the win will reverse his side's fortune in the ongoing Twenty20 tournament.
After posting a challenging 163 for eight on the board, Kings XI bowled out a formidable Mumbai batting line-up for a paltry 87 in 12.5 overs to notch up the stunning a victory.
The win not only took Kings XI to the ninth position in the team standings with eight points from 10 games, but also kept their hopes alive of progressing to the play-off stage of the tournament.
"It's a great turn around. Catches were dropped but otherwise it was good performance. It's a funny world and it can change like this. We have got the foot in that door and hopefully it will keep open. We are back alive," Gilchrist said after the match.
He, however, felt that Kings XI fell a few runs short after making an impressive start to their innings. At one stage Kings XI were coasting at 129 for two but lost as many as six wickets for just 39 runs in the last five overs to see their innings go haywire from a comfortable position.
"I thought we were 15-20 runs short after the start. But fortunately Dinesh Karthik and couple of guys closed it," Gilchrist said.
Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar blamed his batters for the shocking loss and said it was a completely off day for his side on Tuesday.
"It was one of the best tracks we have played on but it didn't just go our way. It was one of those days. We lost those wickets," he said.
"There was a decision to make whether to continue at that run-rate or slow up... there was a choice to be made up. We continued to be positive and it doesn't matter that wickets fell," Tendulkar added.
Kings XI left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt, who was adjudged man-of-the-match for his impressive spell of four for 22, said he did not do anything extra ordinary and was just content in rectifying his mistakes.
"I just bowled my normal bowling and avoided repeating the mistakes from the previous games," he said.
Asked about how it feels playing alongside a legend like Gilchrist, Bhatt said, "It's like a dream to play with Gilchrist. I want to learn a lot from him."