Mumbai (BCCI ) : Punjab Kings pacer Sandeep Sharma said that the DY Patil track, which was "sticky" in the beginning helped their bowlers in the IPL game against Gujarat Titans, which they won by eight wickets.
First South African pacer Kagiso Rabada snared four wickets to restrict Gujarat Titans to a below-par 143 for eight and then Punjab rode on flamboyant opener Shikhar Dhawan's unbeaten 62 to chase the target with 24 balls to spare.
"Today the wicket (the track) also helped us. It was sticky in the beginning, which helped the new ball to move and the ball was holding on the wicket," Sharma, who returned with figures of 0/17, said at the post-match press conference. Â
"We wanted to execute the plans that we had discussed with (head coach) Anil (Kumble) Sir and we were lucky that it happened today (last night)," said Sharma.
Sharma also felt that the Punjab bowlers came with the mindset of executing their plans and they bowled well throughout the innings.
"We bowled well in all the overs. We have very experienced bowlers in our team who have played in the league. So we wanted to execute the plans and if they got a partnership, we should stick to the plan in pressure moments," he said.
The win helped Punjab jump to the fifth spot and according to Sharma, the Mayank Agarwal-led team is focusing on one game at a time from now.Â
"Now all the matches are crucial for us. But more important is that we take one game at a time, like we mentally prepared for this match and came with a positive mindset and similarly we go into the next game. And we will try to execute the plans.
"Yes, we have a good team, we lost two close matches, had we won that, we would have been better on the points table. As a group, we have left that behind and are focusing on the next four games, one by one," he signed off.
Punjab Kings pacer Rabada praised teammate Arshdeep Singh after the team's victory over IPL 2022 leaders Gujarat Titans on Tuesday.
Rabada who was adjudged as the Player of the Match in the post-match presentation said: "Finally we got the win. After being a bit inconsistent, we just wanted to string a couple of wins under our belt. We bowled well to restrict them. Our batters did the job. As a team, we had a good outing. You can't get too greedy, you need to stick to your basics, that's what I tried to do."
Talking about fellow pacer and teammate Arshdeep, the South African said: "He's got a lot of nerve, he has shown that, especially in the death overs. He reads the game well, he's able to execute his skill and he's done it game in game out. He knows what he wants to work on, I am not saying too much to him. As a bowler, you have to bowl in all stages of the game. It's about figuring out how to be the most effective in each stage of the game."—Rediff
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