Gambhir rues dropped catch in loss to Mumbai
mumbai — Having lost a cliffhanger to the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir said on Sunday that his team’s inability to hold their nerves at the death and the failure to take Hardik Pandya’s catch in the last over proved crucial in determining the course of the match.
Mumbai Indians registered a four-wicket win with only one ball left in the pulsating game at the Wankhede stadium.
The hosts logged full points by scoring 180/6 in 19.5 overs, after the Knights got 178/7.
Gambhir praised Pandya (29 not out of 11 balls) and man of the match Nitish Rana (50 of 29 balls) for playing “unbelievable innings”.
The duo virtually turned the match on its head with a blitz 41 run partnership of only 14 balls for the sixth wicket.
“We put a good score on the board in the last three overs. But Hardik and Rana played unbelievable innings,” said Gambhir, whose side slumped to their first defeat in two games of the tournament.
Gambhir also rued the “life” given to Pandya, in the fourth delivery of the ultimate over, when Rishi Dhawan could not get near a top edge from the batsman on the dewy turf. “If we’d taken Hardik’s catch, anything might have happened,” he said.
Gambhir said his boys panicked a little at the end. “It’s just a matter of keeping our nerves calm. We panicked a little in the end with the misfield and the dropped catch.”
He said there was a bit of dew on the ground that didn’t make it easy for spinners.
Meanwhile, disappointed with his team’s bowling in the death overs, Kolkata Knight Riders’ Manish Pandey said they needed to improve in this aspect of the game. MI needed 64 in the final 30 balls but pulled off a sensational victory with one ball to spare, by riding on youngsters Nitish Rana and Hardik Pandya’s counter-attack, after being reduced to 119 for 5 at the beginning of the 17th over.
“Even in the first game (against Gujarat Lions), we struggled with death bowling. I thought we can improve a little more. Two games in a row, and it is high time we start thinking and applying our mind about this in the meeting,” said Pandey in his post-match media conference at the Wankhede Stadium.
“If bowlers hit yorkers consistently, it would be obviously difficult for the batsmen. They missed a few, we missed a few. They played very well in the end and we have to work a bit more on death bowling. We shall overcome this,” Pandey said.
“It looked like we might win, but the two batsmen — Hardik (Pandya) and (Nitish) Rana — played really well. We could have bowled with a little more plan. We will bounce back,” he said confidently.
Pandey felt Hardik Pandya is growing slowly and steadily in confidence. “He is a very good player and coming up to be a very good all-rounder. We have seen how he has batted and finished games for India at number 7. Slowly, he has matured as a player. He is gaining in confidence from all these matches.” —