JOIN USWe need to settle down: Gilchrist
“We did not play anywhere near our best. We have a youngish group and need to settle down,” Gilchrist said after the loss on Sunday night.
“It was difficult to make a comeback from nine for four. We were playing catch-up right from the beginning.
“All credit to Ryan McLaren for giving us some chance to come back. Had we taken our chances they could have been five for 70 and we could have tried for a win from there,” added the former Australian stumper.
The Punjab outfit was restricted to 112 for eight, Mclaren’s unbeaten 51 being their cornerstone, to which the Yuvraj Singh-led Pune team replied with 113 for three in 13.1 overs.
Gilchrist said the dropped catches by his team, that reprieved both Robin Uthappa (22 not out) and Yuvraj (21 not out) early in their unbeaten knocks, proved crucial in the end.
Given lives early on, the duo stitched together an unbeaten 45-run partnership for the fourth wicket to see Pune home. Gilchrist praised the wicket prepared for the tie and said it was a good track which had something for the bowlers. “The wicket was good, the ball came on to the bat and there was something for the new ball bowlers.
“Yuvi told me during the presentation ceremony it was a good toss to lose as he did not know what to do (whether to bat first or not),” said the retired Australian cricketer.
Gilchrist won the toss and his team plunged headlong into trouble with their top four batsmen, including himself, dismissed within the first four overs.
The wicket-keeper batsman felt a total of 140 would have been a challenging target for Pune to chase down.
“McLaren batted very well and paced his innings beautifully. He did what the guys in the top six could not do. Had we got 140 it would have been a bigger challenge as there was something for the faster bowlers. And then Abhishek Nayar created three chances which were put down,” Gilchrist said.
Kings XI’s next outing is against defending champions Chennai Super Kings at home in Mohali.