It was madness, says Gilchrist

Hyderabad, April 20 (IANS): “It was madness.” That was how Kings XI Punjab captain Adam Gilchrist described his team losing four wickets in four balls to end up with a low total against Sunrisers Hyderabad, which won the match by five wickets here Friday night.

Gilchrist believes this was the turning point and his team very much lost the match there. “We were well-positioned to get ourselves up for about 140. That was the absolute turning point of the match madness.”

The Australian feels it was a challenging wicket to bat on as it was not consistent and was turning up and down. “But it was not a shocking wicket by any stretch. It was a challenging wicket to bat on but we were well positioned to get ourselves to 140 or may be 150 with one good over but we just shot ourselves in the foot.”

Punjab, who were 114 for five in the 18th over, collapsed to 115 for nine in the next over and could set a modest target of 124, which was achieved by the home team with seven balls to spare.

Punjab is at sixth position in the points table with four points from five games. As the team plays five matches in the next 12 days, Gilchrist feels they need to crank up.

“We need to crank up for next 12 days to play those five games. We are showing glimpses of solid performance. Our bowlers have been very good to this point but our batting has not given them enough runs. We can improve,” he said.

The Aussie feels that across the teams the current IPL is an even competition.

Gilchrist, whose team faces Pune Warriors at Mohali on Sunday, did not agree that there was lack of motivation. He said it was typical IPL which goes up and down and one needs to show consistency.

The 41-year-old, who is yet to fire from his bat, admitted that the current season is a challenge for him. The former Australian wicket-keeper, who retired even before the first IPL, is happy to be a part of the competition.

He scored 26 off 25 balls Friday night and hoped that it was positive sign. “We will keep working and try to contribute a lot heavily than tonight,” he said.

The Kings XI Punjab captain said Shaun Marsh would be joining the team but would not be available for Sunday’s match. He was also not sure if he would play the next match in Delhi, saying he needs few days to acclimatize.