Losing the toss became a disadvantage for Rising Pune Supergiants, claims Manoj Tiwary

After losing to the Kings XI Punjab today in Holkar Stadium at Indore by 6 wickets, Manoj Tiwary mentioned that it was a disadvantage to lose the toss on that kind of a pitch. The Steve Smith led side were on a high after winning the last ball thriller against Mumbai Indians but had to face defeat against the Punjab side.

Maxwell and Miller chased down the target within 19 overs. This was after RPSG managed to post a competitive total of 163 with the help of Ben Stokes’ 32-ball half-century and a 23-ball 40 from Manoj Tiwary. Tiwary’s innings was laced with three fours and 2 sixes. In the post match conference, Tiwary commented that the toss played a crucial factor in the outcome of the match with the moisture in the pitch which dried out during the course of the match.

“The toss was a factor. Obviously, there is the implementation part but it was nonetheless an important factor. We would have liked to bat second. There was moisture in the first part of the game, but later it was easy to bat on” said the Bengal batsman. He further augmented that had they chased in the match, it would have been to easier to score at pace.

“Had we batted second, we would have scored at a faster pace. Also, we lost the wicket of Mayank Agarwal in the first over and it added to the pressure.” quoting Tiwary. He also added that they had scored big runs in the practice matches and it was an anomaly to see the how the pitch panned out.

Kings XI batsman, Manan Vohra also agreed to the opinion of Tiwary. “The Holkar Stadium is a small ground and toss plays a crucial part. But then a team has to bat well. Pune’s score was less than par on this wicket. In the practice matches, we have scored above 200 regularly” said Vohra. He also gave credit to the Kings XI bowlers for restricting the Pune line-up for 160 odd runs. He also stated the importance of the partnership between Maxwell and Miller.

“Full credit to the Punjab bowlers who restricted Pune to below 165. During our innings, we lost a couple of quick wickets in the middle, but (Glenn) Maxwell and (David) Miller’s experience came into play” as quoted by sayings by iplt20.com.

RPSG would look to improve on their batting and bowling performances in the upcoming match against Delhi Daredevils in Pune on April 11.