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'We should have shown a bit more common sense'
Pune Warriors India captain Sourav Ganguly blamed his batsmen for their seven-wicket loss to Kings XI Punjab and said they should have shown more "common sense" to post a bigger total on the board.
Pune were dismissed for a modest 115 in just 19 overs after Punjab won the toss and inserted the visitors and Ganguly said toss played an important role.
"It was an important toss to win, we would have also wanted to bowl first but this was a good performance from the Punjab bowlers and you cannot take the credit out of the Kings XI," Ganguly said after the match in Mohali, on Thursday.
"We should have shown a bit more common sense and get to 140, it should have been a good total. We had 115 runs on the board and we needed to be a lot more smarter," he added.
'Hopefully we will learn from this loss'
The former India skipper said he is disappointed and hopes that his team would be play sensibly from now on.
"Disappointed because we have a good bowling attack, every time we get to 160, it would be hard for opposition. We need to be more sensible with our batting and hopefully we will learn from this loss," he said.
Asked why he brought leg-spinner Rahul Sharma late in the attack, Ganguly said: "I kept Rahul Sharma away for some time because we wanted to try out our seamers under those conditions. There was movement early on but he did bowl when he came, unfortunately we didnt have enough runs on board."
'Good to get things started'
Kings XI Punjab skipper Adam Gilchrist was happy to bring their campaign back on track after two early losses but said it was still early days for the tournament.
"Good to get things started, early days in the tournaments. Bowlers did a good job in getting the movement off the air. We managed a good couple of days of work out after the lose in Pune and it helped," he said.
The Australian heaped praise on his bowlers, especially Dimitri Mascarenhas who notched up a maiden five-wicket haul, the first by any Kings XI Punjab bowler.
"Mascarenhas did a good job with the ball, got a couple of good deliveries. Chawla contained it though there was hardly any assistance and Parvinder Awana also supported well. Fielding was also good.
"The pitch was doing a tad too much because of the storm yesterday and it could be risk to continue playing on this kind of pitch," he said.
'Never had such a surface in India before!'
Man of the Match, Mascarenhas said he was happy with his effort as he could exploit the wicket which was assisting the bowlers early on.
"Bit on the surface for me to bowl on. Never had such a surface in India before! I tried to hit the right areas. There was a lot in there for the bowlers and I got a few wickets," he said.
"I absolutely love playing in India, the crowds are passionate and it is really nice to win in front of them. Hope to get a win at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in our next game."