Despite Sunil Narine's below par fielding efforts, Kolkata Knight Riders managed to halt Kings XI Punjab's victory train. Narine's blitzkrieg 37 paired with skipper Gautam Gambhir's unbeaten 71 led to KKR's victory at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
After the match, Gambhir stated it doesn't matter for him if he gets the orange cap or not as what matters is that they are in the tally table.
"It doesn't really matter if I have the orange cap or not. What matters is where we are in the points table. It is a beautiful wicket to bat on; had good pace and carry. We have some quality fast bowlers and with Umesh coming back, it makes my job easier," Gambhir said.
He added that he needs to start trusting Narine's batting capabilities. In the match, Narine opened with Gambhir as they chased 170 posted by Kings XI Punjab.
"I need to start trusting him (Narine) with the bat now. He's the leader of the attack with the kind of quality he has. We discussed and wanted someone to go hard and there was no point keeping Sunil back at number nine. We have a long batting line up and we could afford someone to go hard at the top. Personal runs do not make me happy. We have a game coming up in a day's time and we have to take the momentum going forward," Gambhir said.
Meanwhile, Kings XI Punjab skipper Glenn Maxwell said that he thought they had a chance with how the wicket played. He added that they will regroup quickly to focus on the upcoming match with Delhi Daredevils.
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