Punjab Kings Bowling Coach Said, "Need Middle-Order To Get More Runs" After The loss against GT

After getting their sixth defeat out of 8 games in the ongoing Tata Indian Premier League( IPL), the Punjab Kings bowling coach Charl Langeveldt, opined that their middle order needed to score more runs with the bat. This statement came after Punjab's loss against Gujarat Titans in yesterday’s game by 3 wickets when they were defending a target of 142 runs at their home grounds at Mullanpur Stadium in Chandigarh. It's the 4th consecutive loss for the Punjab-based franchise in the ongoing tournament after their last win against Delhi Capitals. The Kings have lost 6 games out of their 8 appearances and sit at the bottom of the table with just 2 points.

Punjab continued their poor form with the bat. After winning the toss, they elected to bat first on the pitch, which becomes easy to bat in the second innings. Punjab batters again disappointed the fans as they were 7 wickets down on the score of 99 runs. However, Harpreet Brar and Singh formed a crucial partnership of 40 runs for the eighth wicket, which took the Punjab Kings to a respectable total of 142 runs in 20 overs. Harpreet Brar and Harpreet Singh scored 29 and 14 runs respectively.

During the second innings, Punjab tried to fight back by getting 5 wickets of Gujarat Titans on the score of 103 runs. But Rahul Tewatia again turned out to be a saviour for Gujarat Titans, as he made a partnership with Shahrukh Khan for 35 runs and made his team win the game 5 balls before by scoring 36 runs in 18 balls, which included 7 boundaries with a strike rate of 200.

After the loss, Punjab Kings bowling coach said, "We showed a lot of character with the ball. We had a good powerplay with the bat for the first time in three games but in the middle period, their spinners were too quality for our batters and we struggled. We just need a middle order upfront to get more runs. We were probably 20 runs short on that wicket."

"It was the idea, we could have another spinner [Rahul] Chahar to play in but obviously when you're batting and you've had a collapse like that, it's better to get the runs on board," Langeveldt reasoned. "That's something we want to improve, get more runs on the board. We are gonna travel now and we are gonna play on better batting wickets and that would give the batters a bit more confidence going into the last few games. We take every game like a semi-final, final but yeah, it's one of those things.

"The batters are definitely going to be happy about the next venue [Eden Gardens, Kolkata]. The bowlers need to step up as well when we play at different venues, higher scoring grounds. Hopefully our batters will come good for us."

Talking about the comeback the Punjab Kings bowling coach said, "We still have to have that belief. We are a positive side, the boys showed a lot of character in the field. There's a lot to play for, we just need to win."