Punjab Kings (PBKS) wicketkeeper-batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa and all-rounder Odean Smith have expressed their happiness over PBKS’ five-wicket win over the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their season opener in the ongoing IPL 2022 on Sunday (March 27) in Mumbai.

While Rajapaksa played a stunning knock of 43 runs off 22 balls, Smith smashed an unbeaten 25 off 8 balls to take PBKS over the line against RCB in the third match of the IPL 2022.

Following the thrilling match, Rajapaksa termed PBKS’s 5-wicket win over RCB as a "confidence booster," while Smith said that Punjab must have the self-belief to win the IPL title this year.

Read Also: IPL 2022: Faf Du Plessis says dropping Odean Smith cost RCB the match against PBKS

Rajapaksa in a post-match presentation: “What we thought was that we'd just have a free hit. Shikhar wanted me to be aggressive although I had just come out to the middle. I knew how Hasaranga bowls. It was about knowing him and playing him for the last 4-5 years now. I bought my local knowledge and it worked. This win is a huge confidence booster.”

He added, “We watched this movie called '14 Peaks' and we have 14 games. Every game is a batter's game. The credit should go to the bowlers to restrict them to 200. But in the middle-overs, we gave away around 130 runs in the last 8-9 overs. But I’m sure the bowlers will come up with better plans in the future.”

Meanwhile, Smith said in a post-match presentation: “We were stressing on having a good start. We just needed to have that belief. Didn't go so well with the bowling. I need to work on a few things. Batting was good as I helped my team to win.”

He concluded, “It was all about execution and I couldn't and that's why it went haywire. Punjab hasn't won the title so far but we need to have the belief. We watched '14 peaks', 13 remain for us.”

(With ANI Inputs)