IPL 7: Fielding and batting failure cost us the match, says Shikhar Dhawan
Sharjah: Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Shikhar Dhawan today put the blame for their crushing 72-run defeat against Kings XI Punjab on their fielding lapses and batting failure during an IPL match in Sharjah.
"We dropped lots of catches, especially the Maxwell catch and after that he went on to score big. Target went very high and then we lost lots of wickets while chasing, it was a big batting failure," said a dejected Dhawan after his team was dismissed for 121 with four balls to spare.
"When you drop catches and all this stuff... of course, batsmen have bit of pressure. We need to work on our batting group and score more runs." The Sunrisers were sloppy on the field as they dropped catches, specially of Glenn Maxwell, who went on to score a blistering 43-ball 95 to power his team to an imposing 193 in their 20 overs.
Man of the Match, Maxwell, who scored 95, 89, 95 in his last three innings, said his game plan has always been a simple one. "Wicket was a little different tonight. I was a bit lucky. Just try and flow, just try and keep certain areas to hit, have got a simple gameplan, am trying to target certain bowlers," he said. "It will be nice to get there [to a hundred]. At least this time I did not get out when we were chasing. Want to score for the team."
Ecstatic with the win, Punjab skipper George Bailey said: "Nice to see us put a good total on the board and to have a good start from Viru and Pujara. Wicket was a little hard to score on but you would not know that from the way Maxwell was batting. "We know it is not going to happen every time. There will be times when the other guys will have to step up.
"Bala's comeback tonight was outstanding. Worked hard at training. Really pleased with our bowling, not so with our fielding, but it is okay." Lakshmipathy Balaji, who returned with a four wicket haul, said he had worked on his variations for this match.
"It was little slow, try to work on little bit variations. I tried to keep it simple. In this game you have to adapt quickly, understand the wicket and change plans according to situation," he said.
