Gautam Gambhir : We had no chance of recovering
BCCI
Following Kolkata's loss against Mumbai yesterday, Gautam Gambhir has claimed that no team could have recovered after losing the entire top order within the first seven overs of a game. KKR had a terrible start as they were restricted to a mere 31/5 in 7 overs and it was all downhill from there.
With the winner of the Qualifier 2 playing in the final against Pune, Kolkata suffered a disastrous start with Jasprit Bumrah and Karn Sharma running riot. The Knight Riders found their entire top order back in the pavilion for a paltry 31 before Ishank Jaggi and Suryakumar Yadav stitched together a 56-run stand to give the Kolkata team some hope. But eventually, the entire team was rounded up for a just 107 which was not even close to being a competitive score.
"Had we got 140 odd, we could have been in the game. We all know they are a quality side and we had to be up for it. If you lose 5 wickets in the first 6-7 overs, you never recover," Gambhir remarked after the game, reported IANS.
"We kept losing wickets and could never target any particular bowler. We thought 130-140 would have given us something to make a game out it.
"We discussed after the last game as well this is not a 160-170 wicket. (
Kolkata looked on track for a top-two finish but four losses in five games before the playoffs meant that they ended up in the fourth spot and having to play an extra game to get to the final. While Gambhir addressed the fact that it was their complacency in the last part of the league stage that cost them the extra chance to make it to the finals, he praised the Mumbai team for their performance on the given day.
"Proud of the boys. We put everything we could. We did not take any short cuts. Mumbai was the better side today. But if you look back at things we could have finished in the top two. We had two opportunities. Once against Kings XI, we
"We made that kind of mistakes and a bad game like today haunted us bad. Just wish both Mumbai and Pune, may the best team win."
Gambhir, then, took to Twitter to thank all the KKR fans for their support throughout the IPL and, almost apologetically, accepted that the end would not have been fun for them.
Tks for being a wonderful support 4 @KKRiders,but 4 u all this journey won't have been fun. Tried our best may b our best wasn't good enuff.
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) May 20, 2017
