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‘It was beautiful striking by Bhajji, but I felt we deserved to win by more runs’
‘We give a lot of freedom to Maxwell and he deserves it, as he’s one of the best strikers of the ball’
Even while lauding Mumbai Indians' Harbhajan Singh for his big hitting in their IPL encounter, Kings XI skipper George Bailey said his team deserved to win by a bigger margin for the way his bowlers delivered earlier in Sunday's match at the Wankhede stadium.
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"One of us was going to end up with two losses (on the trot). It was nice to be on the winning side. It was beautiful striking by Bhajji (Harbhajan Singh), but I felt we deserved to win by more runs," Bailey said.
"After all, we bowled so well at the start and it would have been nice to make it a 50-run victory or so. I thought we deserved that," said the Australian after his team's 18-run victory.
Chasing Kings XI Punjab's imposing 177 for 5, Mumbai Indians were tottering at 25 for 4 and then 59 for 6 when former India off-spinner Harbhajan played a blinder and used the long handle to good effect, smacking six sixes and five fours in his 24-ball-64, which could only enable the home team finish with a final tally of 159 for 7.
"Our bowlers will learn a lot on how they bowled tonight and what happened in the end. Already they are talking about how they could have done it differently. A lot of this is just about composure. In T20 cricket anyone can hit," said Bailey, providing his observation on the match.
"Anureet (Singh) was our best bowler the other night (against Rajasthan Royals). Tonight he gets hit a little bit. James Faulkner was Rajasthan's best bowler against us. Today he gets hit a little bit (against Delhi Daredevils). It's the nature of the game," explained Bailey, who played only one match during Australia's victorious World Cup campaign.
Bailey, who scored 61, the team’s top score, does not see himself coming in to bat ahead of compatriot Glen Maxwell or the left-handed David Miller of South Africa.
"I am not going to bat ahead of Maxwell and Miller. We have a structured way by which we bat. We did not do that against Rajasthan. We learned our lesson and I am pretty happy with the way we batted," said the 32-year-old Tasmanian.
He was quick to defend Maxwell, his younger compatriot, who was caught in the deep for 6 off a top-edged slog off the bowling of debutant Mumbai Indians left-arm spinner, J Suchith.
"We give a lot of freedom to Maxwell and he deserves it, as he’s one of the best strikers of the ball. The challenge for him is to pick the balls to hit, as it is with all of us. He will win a lot of games for us than he loses," the Kings XI skipper said.
Bailey was also full of praise for his new ball bowler Sandeep Sharma, who had the most economical figures of 1 for 12 in the four bowlers he bowled on the trot at the beginning of the Mumbai Indians' run-chase.
"He's just picked up some pace; that's pleasing to watch. He had a back injury at the end of last season and missed a little bit. The beauty of what he does is that he swings the ball late and creates opportunities (even) on batting wickets," the Australian said.