“We are giving the opposition a lot of chances while they are not giving us any. That is probably the reason why we are at the bottom of the table and not winning games.” The apt sum-up of Kings XI Punjab’s dismal display so far in the Indian Premier League came from Glenn Maxwell after the team’s 25-run defeat to Mumbai Indians on Monday night.
The fifth defeat in six matches kept Kings XI at the bottom of the table and pushed it to the brink of being the first team to be out of contention for a place in the playoffs.
Reflecting on the match, where he scored a half-century, Maxwell said: “We bowled a no ball to get the wicket and that player (Parthiv Patel) ended up getting up to 80. That’s a pretty big difference. We did the same thing for (Ambati) Rayudu. He gets dropped at deep mid-wicket and that opened up the game.”
Looking ahead, the Aussie said: “We need to be honest with each other. We haven’t been good enough in all three facets in a complete game yet. We just have to be clinical in what we do with the bat, ball and in the field. We’re just lacking a bit of polish at the moment and I’m sure that’s going to hopefully come after this short little break before we head to Rajkot and take on Gujarat (Lions).”
Man-of-the-Match Parthiv, who cracked a fortuitous 58-ball 81, was too gracious to credit Rayudu and the bowlers for the triumph.
“Having an in-form batsman with you makes your job easier. I’ve played five innings (so far) but couldn’t get going. But to have an in-form batsman takes a bit of the pressure off you. And Rayudu (who made 65 off 37 deliveries) did exactly that today.”
Praising the pace duo of Mitchell McClenaghan and Jasprit Bumrah, Parthiv said: “Mitch is obviously the purple cap holder right now and Jassi (Bumrah) is in fantastic form. It is very important to have good bowlers on your side. We’ve seen with a lot of teams that if you don’t have good bowlers, (it doesn’t) matter how many runs you score.”
