Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) head coach Anil Kumble was left "disappointed" after his team's defeat in their campaign opener of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 against Delhi Capitals (DC) in Dubai on Sunday (September 19).
Kumble bore the pain of seeing his team go down in an encounter where they perhaps missed their opportunities while also being at the receiving end of a costly umpiring mistake in the crunch stages.
Read Also: KXIP appeal against costly 'short-run' call after dramatic loss to DC
Both teams didn't quite turn up with the A-game on the night, but KXIP certainly had a wood over the opponent in certain stages. But eventually, DC scrapped through to victory in the super-over after a tie, with the two sides making 157 runs each.
Chasing 158, a target DC couldn't have set if not for all-rounder Marcus Stoinis' brilliant half-century, KXIP opener Mayank Agarwal played a lone hand of 60-ball 89 while the rest of the batting unit struggled.
In the final over, Stoinis was smashed by Mayank for 12 of the 13 runs required within the first three balls. However, the Australian made a fantastic comeback by dismissing Mayank and taking the fight to the super-over.
Then, pacer Kagiso Rabada showed off his class by making it a no contest, getting the wickets of KL Rahul, Nicholas Pooran and conceding just 2 runs. Capitals batsmen Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant came out and gave their effort the final touches.
For Kumble, this was hard to take, especially being aware that had umpire Nitin Menon not incorrectly called the 'short-run', the game would've ended earlier. But the coach also found positives out of the overall performance of his boys.
"Really disappointed towards the end. Maybe we should have won the game, unfortunately, it went to a Super Over and when you go to a Super Over, you at least need 10-12 runs that didn’t happen," said Kumble in a video posted by the KXIP franchise through their official Twitter handle.
"Delhi played well as we left them off the hook a little bit, but having said that for the first game of the tournament, really satisfied with the way things have gone."
"It was a good start and I am sure we will be able to correct whatever little things we need to do on the field in the next game," he added.
(Inputs from ANI)
