Rain played spoilsport, says Kings XI coach Sanjay Bangar after defeat

Sanjay Bangar

Kolkata, May 28 (IANS): Besides blaming his batsmen, Kings XI Punjab coach Sanjay Bangar on Wednesday blamed the intermittent rain for their 28-run defeat at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League Qualifier 1 at the Eden Gardens here.

While there was an interruption of nearly 25 minutes during the first half of the game due to rain when KKR were batting, there were also light drizzle in the second half forcing the batsmen at the crease to constantly keep tab on the Duckworth-Lewis par score.

"The intermittent drizzle spoilt it a bit as we thought 163 was a par score on this wicket. It's just that batsmen in the middle got a bit flustered by the showers because of which we lost the momentum," said Bangar.

"The Duckworth-Lewis score kept playing in the minds of the batsmen for a couple of overs, but apart from that, I don't think we batted the way we are capable of. Not many of our batsmen got score of at least 40 which led to our downfall," said Bangar who also defended the team's decision to chase.

"I think the rain came down at the right time particularly for our opponents but nothing to take away from them... they deserve to be the winners," he said.

The home side were on 113/5 after 15.4 overs and looked in some sort of trouble when the rain started, but, on resumption, KKR batsmen upped the ante to reach the eventual score of 163/8.

Bangar was also all praise for young left-arm spinner Akshar Patel who returned enviable figures of 2/11 including the prized scalp of Orange Cap holder Robin Uthappa.

"Patel is very good talent and has taken up the role of the main spinner of the side. I think his figures have been fabulous throughout the tournament despite not having much of IPL experience. He has a good temperament but has to continue performing at the domestic level for him to be considered at the highest level," he said.

Kings XI will now play the Chennai Super Kings (who defeated the Mumbai Indians) on Friday to determine who goes to the finals to set up a return date with the Kolkata Knight Riders.