With a gutsy 33-ball 42, Kings XI Punjab’s wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha took the fight to the Sunrisers Hyderabad in Mohali on Monday night. Coming in to bat at 53 for four in pursuit of 151, he built a 44-run stand with Axar Patel to create a few nervous moments for the visitors.

Reflecting on the loss while speaking to iplt20.com, Saha said losing wickets at regular intervals cost his team the match.

Excerpts:

Was it a difficult wicket to bat on?

In Mohali the wicket is almost always like this. There is swing initially then it is good to bat on.

Initially when the ball was new there was swing and movement, but after that it was good (to bat on). In the death overs we bowled well, but then so did they and we couldn’t overhaul the target. We also kept losing wickets in the middle and weren’t able to stitch partnerships (which cost us the game).

What would you say is the reason for the batting lineup to not click as a unit like it did last season?

Last season the batsmen were getting to fifties. This year we haven’t had those many fifties and we haven’t been able to build partnerships as well. There have been some wrong shots played, and times when we have not been able to rotate strike when needed, and then (piling of) dot balls (has created pressure). So the middle-order is looking a bit weak.

There were a few streaks of lightning in the sky during the chase. Did that add to the pressure while chasing?

There was no pressure of rain coming down because there was no forecast of it. But even when we saw that (lightning), we decided to continue as we were doing. If it had rained that was to be dealt with later.

You and Axar Patel had revived the game. What was your advice to him?

We were thinking we need about 10-12 runs an over in the last five overs. So if we got boundaries off the first one or two balls, then we could convert loose balls into boundaries and rotate the strike. And we were closing in, but then Axar got out and then I too got out later in the same over.