Punjab Kings captain Shikhar Dhawan heaped praise on his bowlers after their six-wicket defeat against defending champions Gujarat Titans in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Thursday, April 13.

The hosts rode on Matthew Short’s 36 off 24 balls along with contributions from Jitesh Sharma (25), Shahrukh Khan (22) and Sam Curran (22) to post a competitive total of 153/8 in their 20 overs. In reply, Shubman Gill smashed 67 off 49 balls to help the Titans chase down the total with one ball to spare.

“I’m very proud of the bowlers, it was not a big total and taking the game till the end was tremendous,” said Dhawan at the post-match presentation.

With seven required off the final over, left-arm pacer Sam Curran cleaned up Gill to bring PBKS back into the game. However, Titans’ Rahul Tewatia later hit the winning runs as he scooped the length ball over short fine leg for a boundary to register a nail-biting win for the reigning IPL champions.

The 37-year-old Dhawan later admitted that the Kings did not have enough runs on the board.

“We did not put many runs on the board. We have to rectify that thing going forward. Absolutely - if you see the number of dot balls, if a team plays 56 balls, you end up losing the game. Losing early wickets puts you on the back foot and we need to work on that,” the PBKS skipper added.

Having succumbed to their second defeat of IPL 2023, the PBKS outfit is currently placed sixth in the standings with four points on the board.

The Kings will look to bounce back against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their next IPL 2023 clash in Lucknow on Saturday, April 15.