Despite the heart-breaking last ball defeat to Mumbai Indians on Sunday, skipper Gautam Gambhir put up a brave face defending his team and L. Balaji who bowled the now ‘infamous' last over.
“We set Mumbai Indians a target of 176 which in itself is a big effort. I think 175 was more than a par score on this surface. I was very happy with the total. Spinners and Brett Lee bowled well. Except the last over, we played well,'' Gambhir pointed out.
“You should see the performance of every player in the team. We have reached the top four in this edition which is an achievement in itself,'' he said. “There is nothing to feel bad about our performance. I think we have done very well in the tournament so far.''
The KKR captain firmly stood behind Balaji. “Balaji is one of our strike bowlers. I have a lot of trust in him. He is an experienced bowler and has done well so far. He is not a bad bowler because of that one over. In this format such things can happen. It was one of those bad days for us. He gave away 23 runs in that over. Nine times out of ten he would have emerged as a winner. Today was not his day,'' Gambhir said.
“It will be a different ball game in the play-offs. MI had nothing to lose coming into this game. It did not have a chance to get into the top two. It played fearless cricket. In two days time when we meet again at the Wankhede Stadium it will be equal pressure on both the teams. Whoever plays good cricket will move forward,'' he surmised.
MI skipper Sachin Tendulkar felt anything was possible in T20 cricket. “When the bowlers do not get it right, batsmen can have a couple of edges going to the fence. It was a wonderful match,'' he said.
