Indian Premier LeagueThe Punjab Kings ended their Tata Indian Premier League 2022 run on a high note, winning their last game of the tournament by five wickets against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday night.
The match at the Wankhede Stadium was the league’s last group stage match. Both PBKS and SRH had already been eliminated from the playoffs prior to the match.
While Harpreet Brar and Nathan Ellis claimed three wickets each to restrict SRH to 157/8 in 20 overs, Liam Livingstone stole the thunder with the bat, scoring 49* (22) and taking PBKS to 160/5 in just 15.1 overs. Brar’s 4-0-26-3 earned him the Player of the Match award.
Post the game, the Shers Mayank Agarwal, Livingstone and Brar shared their thoughts about the game. Below are excerpts from the same.
I am still learning: Liam Livingstone
“It was nice. I felt like I have been hitting the ball well all tournament, but got out in stupid ways at times too early, but it's the way I have played, I have tried to play and it's the way we have tried to play. The way we played today was perfect, we got the balance right between attacking and being smart,” Livingstone said, emphasizing on his batting and the team’s performance.
“It has been a long two-and-a-half months, nice to get out of here to be honest. I'm a big believer in match-ups. I knew today my two match-ups were Umran and Washi. I tried to wait for them, but they did not come back because they obviously knew that I was their match-up,” Livingstone said, letting us in on what went well in the game against SRH.
“I tried to play the two left-armers with a bit more respect and try and wait for the right-armers where I feel a little bit more comfortable. I let myself down a bit, when I tried to hit their left-arm spinner over extra-cover; don't think I have ever done that in my life. It's all about learning and I will try to keep better at things like that and hopefully take my game to the next level,” he further explained.
“Obviously nice to prove a few people wrong. I had a few comments after last year's IPL. I'm still learning, still developing and hopefully playing in all these different tournaments around the world. It's all about gaining that experience and trying to become a better player. I will go back to England now and try to use what I've learnt from this tournament in the next tournament,” the big-hitter said.
There are a lot of positives for us: Mayank Agarwal
“It's going to be sore, probably going for an X-ray now,” Agarwal said about his rib after being on the receiving end of a cracking delivery from Umran Malik. “They never expected a no-ball, so he wasn't ready. I asked him (Malik) whether he was wearing protective gear and he shouldn't get hurt,” the captain said.
“There are a lot of positives for us. The way Livingstone batted, Dhawan played well. Bairstow since the time he started to open. If we go out there and play the kind of cricket we play, we can do well in the next season,” the batter opined.
“We couldn't stitch two back-to-back wins. We lost wickets in a cluster, and that at times derailed us. We have played an aggressive brand of cricket over all. We are going to sit and discuss now after the IPL. We were here to get two points and we were here to enjoy ourselves,” he concluded.
My focus is on my skills: Harpreet Brar
Brar, who had a great outing with the ball in the final game, said, “When I saw the pitch, I realised that it could support spinners and was happy. Spinners have been taken for runs in this season and I wanted to do well on this track.”
“My aim is always to bowl well in my decided areas and perform under pressure. My focus is on my skills,” the bowler from Punjab elaborated. He further spoke about Aiden Markram’s wicket, saying, “That ball had turn and bounce. I saw that he was playing on the back foot and wanted to draw him forward. So I felt happy to pick up such a wicket.”
“I am happy for Arshdeep, he has got an opportunity to represent a country because that's what a player seeks out to do,” he said, speaking of Singh’s call up for national T20 duty in the upcoming series against South Africa.
“I will look to work on my skills in the upcoming season and I firstly look forward to spending time with my family, having not seen them for four months,” Brar concluded.
