IPL 2018: Our Game Against RCB Cost Us a Lot - Ravichandran Ashwin

For a side which dominated the league in the initial phase of the game, Ravichandran Ashwin-led Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) will be gutted with the finish.

With Delhi Daredevils (DD) beating Mumbai Indians (MI) in the afternoon contest, Punjab’s hopes of making it to the playoffs took a severe beating.

The visitors kept losing wickets at regular interval. While Chris Gayle failed to open his account, in-form batsman KL Rahul made just seven. Manoj Tiwary, David Miller added some stability to the innings before Karun Nair played a responsible knock of 54 off 26 balls.

Nair hit five sixes and three fours and was the only standout performer. Tiwary scored 35 and Miller made 24.

Chennai polished off the tail in no time as Punjab were bowled out for 153 with two balls to spare.

Speedster Lungi Ngidi produced his best figures of the IPL. The African pacer ended his spell with figures of four for 10. Shardul Thakur and Dwayne Bravo picked two wickets each.

Ravichandran Ashwin on the loss:

Punjab skipper Ashwin said his side were 30 runs below the par total.

“Few tough days at the office now. We didn’t bat well, we lost too many wickets early. He also rued the dropped chances and termed them as one of the reasons for the poor show,” Ashwin said during the post-match presentation.

Ashwin further reiterated struggled this month, as middle-order woes continued to haunt the Mohali-based outfit.

 “Karun batted well but we were 20-30 below par. We put down a catch – that’s been our story. The side had a horrible May. Our side had a bowler for the conditions in Ankit, we should have latched onto that catch. The first half we were playing down at Mohali and our middle order didn’t show up in the latter half.” he said.

KL doing well: Ravichandran Ashwin

It is a strange fact that Andrew Tye holds the purple cap while KL Rahul has bagged it for much of the season, yet the side has been knocked out.

“Ankit [Rajpoot] was a positive, among many others – KL doing really well, we have the purple cap too. We haven’t really put ourselves in a position where we can command a win on our terms. To be very blunt about it, our game against RCB cost us a lot – momentum and morale.” Ashwin concludes.