IPL 2017: We Had A Chance Of Defending 128 Across 20 Overs, Says Muttiah Muralitharan

May 18, 2017 at 5:35 PM

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IPL 2017: We Had A Chance Of Defending 128 Across 20 Overs, Says Muttiah Muralitharan

Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling coach Muttiah Muralitharan has said the result of the eliminator against Kolkata Knight Riders could have been different, had his bowlers got a 20-overs game. Batting first, the defending champions could post only 128 for 7 in their allotted 20 overs. The target was not an imposing one, but given the way the M Chinnaswamy pitch has behaved this season and the strong bowling lineup of Sunrisers, Muralitharan felt his team had a good chance of defending the low total.

But when Kolkata’s inning began after over three hours of heavy rain, the Sunrisers bowlers had only 48 runs to defend in 6 overs. And although they made a blazing start, reducing the Knight Riders to 12 for 3 in the second over, Gautam Gambhir played a 19-ball 32 runs knock to take his side through quite comfortably in the end.

“Overall, Bangalore wicket has been low-scoring. 130, I thought, was par,” Muralitharan said after the match.

“Across 20 overs, we had a chance of defending it. The surface was up and down. But this is part and parcel of the game. They won the toss, so they deserved to win.”

After being put in to bat first, the Sunrisers’ innings never took off. With the Bangalore pitch not easy to go for shots, the Kolkata bowlers bowled a disciplined line to keep the batsmen under check throughout the innings.

Umesh Yadav and Trent Boult began brightly, rarely giving the Sunrisers openers-Warner and Shikhar Dhawan- any loose balls and as a result, the defending champions could score only 24 runs in the first four overs.

The pressure finally got the better off Dhawan who top-edged a Yadav delivery to get dismissed for only 11 runs. Kolkata bowlers continued bowling a disciplined line, not allowing Warner and his new partner Kane Williamson to go for the big shots. By the time the powerplay ended, Sunrisers were only 30 for 1. The duo added 50 runs for the second wicket but once they were dismissed in quick succession, the new batsmen found it tough to get going on the tough track as the defending champions could manage only 128.

“The wicket is not great to play shots. We would’ve been bowled out for 70-80 if we tried to play shots. We were thinking of 140 and finished 10 short because they bowled well. We had the bowling to defend it across 20 overs. We’ve seen how teams have defended 130-135 here. Unfortunate the rain came, we can’t complain,” the spin wizard said.

He further rued the untimely rain once again before saying that his team had a good season. At the same time, he also hoped of making a similar team next year when majority of the players will go in auction pool and winning the title.

“Unfortunately, it was the rain, which you cannot complain about, and you need to move on because they played better. We had a very good season and we played well,” he said.

However, unfortunately you need to go out sometimes when you are in the knockouts. Therefore, unfortunately this year is not our year. We will make sure if we can build the same team next year, come back and fight for the trophy,” he added.

Speaking about the performance of the players, he said:“Our batsmen batted well, the bowlers, who were picked in the auction, did well as well. Therefore, we are satisfied with our players along with our performance as well.”

He concluded the press conference by accepting that defeat is a part and parcel of the game and congratulating the players of his team.

“We also won eight matches or something, while we just lost five matches, along with this loss. We won it last year, and that is not going to happen every time. Every team tries hard. Therefore, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. We take it on the chin and say ‘Ok, it’s not our year’. I also congratulate all the players who played really well for us,” the former Sri Lanka bowler concluded.

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