Kolkata: Bangladesh’s allrounder Shakib Al Hasan whose 3 for 17 and 16 off 10 balls helped Kolkata Knight Riders register a five-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals on Friday said that getting the early wickets boosted his confidence.
"[The] early wickets boosted my confidence and helped me settle my nerves. Whenever you bowl the first over, there are butterflies in [your] stomach. This was one pitch where I needed to bowl well and I did pitch the ball in right areas," Man-of-the-Match Shakib said after the match. The well-timed six he hit in the penultimate over of their chase helped KKR immensely. "There wasn't much pressure on me as we were close to run-a-ball and we needed just a boundary."
Victorious KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir gave credit to his spinners; Shakib and Sunil Narine, for helping his side reduce Rajasthan to a low score of 131. "[We] always knew 120-125 would be a good [total], but we had the batting to chase it down. They started well, but Shakib did well along with Narine, and later the batsmen like Jacques [Kallis], Manoj [Tiwary] did well. Credit to Narine for the way he bowled the 19th over. He is a mystery bowler, [who] is difficult to play, and the ploy [of] keeping him for the end helped."
Rajasthan captain Rahul Dravid felt that 131 was a competitive score. "We always knew it was a competitive score, but they [KKR] built up a partnership after an early wicket. We knew we had to go hard up front and set up a base. I believe the experience to play on these tracks will help the youngsters. Although we are not comfortable losing two in a row but [we] hope to bounce back soon," Dravid said.
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