I have no answers,’ KL Rahul, KingsXI Punjab skipper said after his side suffered a stunning loss against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Chasing 165 runs to win, Punjab rode on fine half-centuries from Rahul and Mayank Agarwal before pressing the panic button to lose the match by two runs.
Requiring 14 from 6 deliveries, Punjab had an out-of-form Glenn Maxwell in the middle and the Australian was foxed by Sunil Narine, who first removed the dangerous Nicholas Pooran and then dismissed Mandeep Singh to bring Kolkata back into the match.
With six required off the final delivery to drag the match into a Super Over, Maxwell tried to heave Narine over the cover boundary but the ball fell just inches short of the boundary.
“I have no answers. We just need to keep coming harder in the next seven games. We bowled really well. This was a fresh strip so we didn’t know what were good lines and lengths. And the bowlers adjusted really well. And they were brave at the death too,” Rahul said.
The Punjab skipper further said that losing wickets at the back end of the chase hurt his team.
“Don’t think we were satisfied at any stage in the chase. You are satisfied only when you win the game. Towards the end, we kept losing wickets, and couldn’t get us over the line,” he added.