IPL 2017 – We Were Simply Outstanding – Glenn Maxwell
May 9, 2017 at 11:59 PM
We time and again assert that for a side to be successful in T20 cricket, it is imperative to get the playing XI right and in line with the conditions and opposition. An able playing XI often makes the difference between a victory and a loss. The Kings XI Punjab, needing a win at any cost to maintain their hopes of making it to the playoffs, did just that against the Kolkata Knight Riders in their final home game of the season.
The move to play 3 specialist spinners did the trick as the Knight Riders batsmen were caught off guard and their middle order struggled against the slow bowlers. Needing to defend a decent 168, the visitors got off to a dream start as Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn again provided some fireworks. But with the middle order struggling, there was just enough burden on the Australian and eventually, Kolkata lost by 14 runs.
Punjab skipper Glenn Maxwell was beaming with joy and termed his side’s performance as “outstanding”.
“Absolutely outstanding. I asked for an improved performance in the field and I got it. Axar led the way. Hopefully, we can do this in the last two games. Spinners came into the game, Tewatia bowled well,” said Maxwell.
“We were able to stop the bleeding runs. I thought the score was about par; we left ourselves a little bit short. Maybe 10-15 short. We backed our plans, which we have been asking of ourselves. They knew what they wanted to do. The bowlers did their job, the fielders did their job. It would be nice to win a toss,” Maxwell added.
Pacer Mohit Sharma was named the Man of the Match for his supreme bowling performance. “Before the match, we talked that we have to stick to plan A, and only when it doesn’t word do we have to go to plan B. There very less margin of error in this game. So I was mixing my lengths and pace. Kept it back and bowled it a touch wide too. We will try to focus on the process again,” said Mohit.