After a thrilling win against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kings XI Punjab skipper David Hussey says his side is confident now and keen to better in the remaining matches. Punjab almost lost the match from a winning position but Piyush Chawla held his nerves to smash a six off the penultimate ball to steer his side home while chasing 159 against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
"We tried to clutch defeat from the jaws of victory… but a win is a win. We have confidence now. We need to go back and perform in front of our home crowd," Hussey said, according to a report in The Indian Express.
"Momentum is a big part. We did well against Chennai and now we want to do even better when we go to Mohali for the next game," he said.
Meanwhile Dean Jones writes in The Times Of India that Mumbai’s bowlers are impressive, but the batsmen aren’t performing. “There’s not much difference between the top two teams. Delhi and Kolkata are where they are because the skippers are leading from the front. The fiery Virender Sehwag is in imperious form and Gautam Gambhir is his normal self. For Mumbai, the leaders must start performing.”
“For Mumbai, the major problem has been Kieron Pollard. Harbhajan must take a call, and make Kieron Pollard bat in the top 4. Judged by his performances in the previous IPLs, he developed a reputation as a batting allrounder but looks like he’s more of a bowling allrounder. A promotion up the order might be of help,” adds Jones.
Meanwhile Sourav Ganguly in his column in Hindustan Times writes that it was disappointing to lose at Cuttack, especially when Pune Warriors were in control till the 15th over of the Deccan Chargers’ innings.
“The last five overs took the game away from us and this is not the first time it has happened in the tournament. One can understand — and accept — that the last five overs on a flat wicket normally yield 45-50 runs, but when a team leaks 90 in the last six then it is definitely a problem,” writes Ganguly, adding that the biggest drawback is our effort in the bowling department.
“Ever since Ashok Dinda has been sidelined, our bowling has suffered and the worst has been in the death overs, where we have leaked too many runs. Even Ashish Nehra's rhythm seems to have been hampered by the absence of Dinda, as it is rightly said that fast bowlers hunt in pairs,” adds Ganguly.