MI vs PBKS: KL Rahul expresses disappointment on 6-wicket loss, says 'Need to be postive'

Punjab Kings' failure to win close matches have put their playoff chances in jeopardy and their recent loss in the MI vs PBKS match has added to their troubles. Mumbai Indians beat Punjab Kings by six wickets to get their season back on track. Punjab Kings skipper KL Rahul who failed to contribute much with the bat expressed his disappointment over the team's failure to close out the match from a winning position. 

During the post-match presentation KL Rahul, expressed disappointment when asked about whether his young team is unable to cope up with pressure situations. He said "It is what it is, we haven't been able to handle the pressure. We'll learn more if we play more together as a team," Rahul said. "We need to be positive. We have three games, so we need to take one game at a time. We need to go out there and enjoy ourselves. All our games in the UAE have gone down to the wire, hopefully we can build on that," the PBKS skipper added.

MI vs PBKS: KL Rahul on what to expect from the team in the remaining matches

Despite losing a close contest yet again, KL Rahul is confident of doing well in the remaining matches. He said, "The boys showed a lot of fight with the ball, we have done that two games in a row. The next three games will be interesting for us as the table looks interesting. We'll learn more if we play more together as a team." 

MI beats Punjab Kings in close contest

In the MI vs PBKS IPL 2021 match on September 28,  the Punjab Kings, batting first, got off to a poor start with Mandeep Singh (15) dismissed by Krunal Pandya, who trapped him in front of the wicket. Kieron Pollard then gave Punjab Kings a huge blow by dismissing Chris Gayle after which he picked up skipper KL Rahul for his 300th wicket in T20s. Rahul pulled a short length delivery straight to Bumrah at short fine leg to be dismissed for 21 runs.

Bumrah then bowled a yorker to trap Nicholas Pooran in front of the wicket as Punjab slipped to 48 for four in the 8th over. Markram and Hooda then kept the scoreboard ticking, picking up singles of Chahar and occasional boundaries to take Punjab to 90 for 4 in 14 overs. Punjab Kings looked to get quick runs at the end but never got the momentum going as Harpreet Brar struggled to negotiate the variations of Bumrah and Coulter-Nile in the death overs. Punjab Kings could only manage 135 runs at the end of their 20 overs.

Defending only 136 runs, Ravi Bishnoi gave Punjab Kings a positive start by getting rid of Rohit Sharma (8) and Suryakumar Yadav (0) in successive deliveries to leave MI tottering at 16 for two. Saurabh Tiwary (45) and Quinton de Kock (27) took the team to 30 for two in the powerplay.  Tiwary eased the pressure with a boundary at the cover-point area, before picking up another four off a Nathan Ellis delivery.

Tiwary and Hardik Pandya kept MI in the hunt but runs dried up with Arshdeep Singh taking the pace off, but Harpreet dropped the India allrounder to add to his frustration. Needing 52 off 36, Tiwary clobbered Bishnoi over mid-wicket but he was soon removed by Nathan Ellis.

Hardik then hit a four and six in two balls off Shami to keep MI in the hunt. Needing 29 in the last three overs, Pollard blasted one across the at extra cover and then deposited the next one over long-off. Hardik then exploded in the 19th over, bowled by Shami, as he sent a wide delivery across the boundary and then pulled one across midwicket before heaving another over long-on to end the contest.

(With inputs from PTI)