"It was a 170-ish wicket" - Mayank Agarwal believes soft dismissals led to below-par total against KKR in IPL 2022 

Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Mayank Agarwal feels the batters failed to capitalize on the surface at the Wankhede Stadium against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The newly-appointed captain suffered his first defeat while leading PBKS on the back of a poor batting performance.

After being put in to bat, the in-form KKR bowling unit restricted PBKS to 137 in 18.2 overs. Cameos from Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Kagiso Rabada helped the side reach the three-figure mark.

Opining that a score of 170 would have been par on the pitch on offer tonight, Mayank Agarwal said in the post-match presentation:

"It was a 170-ish wicket. I thought we started off well but we could not capitalize. There were a few soft dismissals but it is okay. I think a game like this at the start of the tournament is fine."

Agarwal continued:

"Well, I think obviously we did not bat well enough but I think we showed some real fight with the ball initially. And then Dre Russ came in and got going, so credit to him for taking the game away from us like that."

The PBKS batters could not make the most of the situation after settling at the crease. The batting unit was rattled by Umesh Yadav's best IPL figures of 4-23 while the spin unit strangled the run flow in the middle overs.

"I thought they pulled the game back really well for us" - Mayank Agarwal on PBKS bowlers

Defending a below-par score, the PBKS bowling unit, enhanced by the addition of Kagiso Rabada, did a stellar job in the powerplay. The pacers' efforts were well backed by the in-form Rahul Chahar, who returned with figures of 2-13 to put KKR in a perilous position at 51-4.

However, a scintillating 31-ball 70 by Andre Russell took the game away from PBKS. The all-rounder was well-backed by Sam Billings, who also remained unbeaten on 24. KKR finished the game with over five overs to spare to bolster their net run rate.

Crediting the bowling unit for keeping PBKS in the game, Agarwal said:

"I thought they pulled the game back really well for us, you know to get four wickets for 50-odd runs. At that point, we were in the game but like I said, Dre Russ came in and took the game away from us. There were a lot of positives for us to take away."

PBKS will next face the under-fire Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The match is slated to take place at the Brabourne Stadium on April 3 (Sunday).