Attacking right-hander batsman Manish Pandey feels that his team Kolkata Knight Riders should have scored at least 200 in the IPL 2016 game which they lost to the Mumbai Indians by 6 wickets. He lamented the fact that despite a blistering start, KKR couldn’t reach that 200- mark and that proved to be crucial as Mumbai Indians cruised to the target with 5 balls to spare.
"With the way we started, probably we should have got 200. At least myself, Gautibhai (Gautam Gambhir) or Russell should have stayed till the end," Pandey who scored an electrifying 52 off 29 balls said at the post-match press conference.
‘We were thinking 200’
He also added, “In the middle overs we were thinking 200, that's what we were discussing. After I got out Russell had a decent partnership with the captain. There was a stage when there were new batsmen at both the ends. It's not easy for any team to have two new batsmen at the crease and go for it. That's what we lacked a bit."
KKR were well placed at 163/2 after 17 overs and a total of 200 almost looked certain. Their skipper Gautam Gambhir and Manish Pandey have given them a solid start and the promotion of the big-hitting allrounder Andre Russell seemed to be working extremely well for them until the Mumbai Indians bowlers pegged them back with some disciplined bowling.
The cunning left-arm seamer from New Zealand Mitchell McClenaghan got the prize scalp of Russell who was striking the ball well. KKR could only manage 187 which the Mumbai Indians chased in 19.1 overs courtesy of a brilliant unbeaten knock of 84 by their skipper Rohit Sharma whose love-affair with the Eden Gardens continued.
However, Pandey also pointed out that it was nevertheless a good target and any team would normally feel that they would win the game. According to him, the pitch started playing better and it gave the chasing team an advantage on which they capitalized well. He accepted the fact that they were 20 runs short.
Pandey conceded the fact that they were banking on their bowlers as they have a good spin attack and some decent fast bowlers in their side. But he also acknowledged that on odd days a team might just end up losing such games. He concluded by saying that the team would learn from this and would do better in the future.
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