03 May,2021 11:33 AM IST | Mumbai | Subodh Mayure
Mayank Agarwal
Punjab Kings (PBKS) stand-in captain Mayank Agarwal played a responsible innings of 99 not out off 58 balls (8x4, 4x6) to help his team post 166-6 versus Delhi Capitals (DC) in Ahmedabad on Sunday. However, lack of support from the other end contributed to PBKS' seven-wicket loss with 14 balls to spare.
Agarwal said it was just a matter of scoring 10 runs less, which made the difference to the result of the game. In the absence of regular skipper KL Rahul (unavailable due to illness), Agarwal opened the innings with Prabhsimran Singh (12 in 16 balls), while Chris Gayle (13) and Dawid Malan (26) batted at No.3 and 4 respectively.
When asked whether his team management was thinking of opening the innings with Gayle or Malan, Agarwal said: "That is something which we will have to speak about. For the moment, this is the strategy that we went with. I thought we got a decent score on the board, maybe just 10 runs short."
Agarwal was speaking at the post-match virtual press conference on Sunday night.
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In reply, Shikhar Dhawan's unbeaten 69 in 47 balls (6x4, 2x6) and 22-ball 39 from Prithvi Shaw guided DC to their sixth win of the tournament.
"With Delhi's batting, we needed firepower to get wickets. That was the plan, and we back our bowlers to go out and do that for us," Agarwal said.
For PBKS, left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar, pacers Riley Meredith and Chris Jordan took one wicket apiece, but young leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi (0-42) and experienced pacer Mohammed Shami (0-37) went wicketless.
