Punjab Kings' skipper Mayank Agarwal and all-rounder Liam Livingstone credited their seam bowlers for setting up their 54-run victory against Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2022 at the Brabourne Stadium here on Sunday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Though the dew has been a problem for all teams bowling second in this edition of the IPL, especially in the matches being played here, the Punjab Kings' bowlers came up with a superb performance to rattle CSK early on and maintained their stranglehold despite a half-century by Shivam Dube.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"We got to a target we thought was defendable and the seam bowlers set it up for us. We wanted to be aggressive and as exciting as we can. Nice to get a few today, but as I said the seamers set it up in the powerplay," said Livingstone, who blasted a brilliant 60 to help Punjab Kings recover from 16\/2 to reach 180\/8 in 20 overs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Livingstone was delighted to contribute with the bat as he did not get many runs in the first two games.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"The first two games didn't go my way, but (it's) nice to contribute to a win. We got to a target we thought was defendable and the seam bowlers set it up for us. I've been swinging hard, so nice to get it off the middle today. I play my own way and I struggled a bit with Rajasthan as well. Hopefully, this will bring some confidence.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Livingstone was happy to get a couple of wickets too to complete a fine all-round show.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Bowling is something I really enjoy and I keep practicing. Hopefully, I'll come more and more into the game," said Livingstone who was adjudged player of the match for his half-century and the 95-run partnership he shared with Shikhar Dhawan (33).<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Skipper Mayank Agarwal, too, heaped praise on his bowlers for winning the match for them.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"We were thinking we were 5-7 short, chasing 180 is never going to be easy. I was very, very happy with the way we bowled with the new ball," he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Agarwal said they wanted Himachal seamer, Vaibhav Arora, in their squad seeing his talent and the seamer did not disappoint them, claiming two early wickets on debut,<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Vaibhav was with us a couple of years back and we saw the talent. KKR picked him up, but we wanted him because he's something different," said Agarwal during the post-match presentation on Sunday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He said they have high hopes from young Vidarbha wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma, who he said has a great attitude.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"With Jitesh, Anil Bhai (Anil Kumble) had seen him at Mumbai Indians. He has great intent and he's a fantastic keeper. The standout thing about him is his attitude," said Agarwal.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Punjab skipper said they would take the winning momentum into the next match and hope to play positive cricket.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"We will definitely look to play hard, positive cricket. We have to be emotionally intelligent if it doesn't come off," he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n