NAVI MUMBAI: After a convincing eight-wicket win over Gujarat Titans (GT), Punjab Kings' (PBKS) skipper Mayank Agarwal said that his team would like to string a few wins at this stage of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season..
Kagiso Rabada's four-wicket haul (4/33) and Shikhar Dhawan's half-century (62 not out off 53) led Punjab to a convincing eight-wicket win over Gujarat at the Dr. D.Y Patil Stadium on Tuesday.
With this win, Punjab jumped to the fifth spot in the table with 10 points, while it was only the second loss for table-toppers Gujarat in their debut season.
"We would like to string a few (wins), no better time than getting a few wins back-to-back," said Agarwal at the post-match presentation.
When asked about trying the new opening combination, the Punjab captain said, "We are trying to get the best out of Jonny (Bairstow). He's done well opening. (So) I said, 'It's okay, I'll bat at four, I'll anchor the innings at four'."
The 31-year-old Agarwal also spoke about chasing the total quickly and boosting their net run-rate.
"With Livi (Liam Livingstone) it was clear, that Shikhar to bat through and Livi could go out and play the way he wants to play. It was nice the way he played, got the score quickly. When we got to that position, two points are almost clear. If we can score it as quickly as possible, we could also improve the net run-rate," he said.
The Punjab skipper also praised his bowlers for their excellent bowling performance.
"I thought we bowled exceedingly well. We got early wickets and choked them in the middle. That really helped us restrict them to a below-par score," he concluded.
Punjab will now play against Rajasthan Royals on May 7 at the Wankhede Stadium.
