Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory is not an alien experience for Punjab Kings. Yet, the two-run loss to Rajasthan Royals at Dubai on Tuesday must have hurt.
Coach Anil Kumble admitted it was a bitter pill to swallow. “It’s sort of become a pattern for us, especially as soon as we get to Dubai, it seems,” Kumble told reporters.
“The approach was to finish the game in 19 overs. But unfortunately we (left) it till the end. (When you leave it to the last two balls), it becomes a lottery. But credit to (Kartik) Tyagi for the way he bowled the last over.”
Messing it up
Kumble felt the Punjab batsmen didn’t handle the final over properly. “It was pretty obvious he was going to bowl wide outside the off-stump,” said Kumble. “We have five more games. We don’t want to be bogged down by this defeat.”
Rajasthan Royals’ Riyan Parag conceded the game was slipping away. “In the 19th over, while I was at mid-off, I asked Mustafizur (Rahman) not to let the game finish in that over and that we had a chance with Kartik bowling the 20th,” he said. “Those boys were insane; defending eight runs off the last two overs is just incredible.”
