"There Were Hopes They Could Finish Game": Shikhar Dhawan On Shashank, Ashutosh's Run Chase

Mullanpur (Punjab) [India], April 10 (ANI): The two brightest sparks for Punjab Kings (PBKS) this IPL 2024 season Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma nearly pulled off another magnificent chase for their team but Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) got over the line in Mullanpur by the skin of their teeth, registering a nail-biter 2 run victory. Despite his team's defeat, PBKS captain Shikhar Dhawan could not stop himself from praising Shashank and Ashutosh for their magnificent chase efforts. The Punjab captain said that they were always optimistic about Shashank and Ashutosh finishing the game for Punjab.

All hope seemed gone when Punjab required 51 runs in the last three overs, but Shashank-Ashutosh duo smashed 66 runs off just 27 balls to take their team so close to the target.

The heroes for Punjab in the previous game, put up a brave fight again this time against SRH as Shashank hit three boundaries in an over off Bhuvneshwar Kumar and his partner Ashutosh struck back-to-back fours off SRH captain Cummins, giving PBKS hope of victory at their home.

"I feel that Shashank and Ashutosh played a great knock. There was always hope that they could finish the game, but we got so close and that'll give us confidence going into the future games, but we'll have to do better going ahead," Dhawan said in a post-match presentation.

Dhawan lamented that batting let them down and batters did not do well in the first six overs as they lost 3 wickets which "cost us in the end."

"We restricted them to a good total, but we couldn't cash in on the first 6 overs, lost 3 wickets and that's where we fell behind and it cost us in the end. When the wicket wasn't offering a lot of bounce, every individual will have to look back and change their approach. We dropped a catch off the last ball, we could have kept them down by 10-15 runs, but batting let us down. It's great to see youngsters chipping in with such consistency (on Shashank and Ashutosh)," he added.

Coming to the match, after losing three wickets in the powerplay, SRH posted a total in excess of 180 thanks to Nitish Reddy's maiden half-century and some crucial runs scored by Abdul Samad and Shahbaz Ahmed.

In the run-chase of 183, PBKS lost wickets frequently and were reduced to 114/6 in 15.3 overs. A remarkable fightback from Shashank Singh (46* in 25 balls, with six fours and a six) and Ashutosh Sharma (33* in 15 balls, with three fours and two sixes) almost sealed a win for Punjab, but they fell short by two runs. (ANI)