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Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Shikhar Dhawan believed that his team lacks an effective off-spinner and that could be a major reason for the loss against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Eden Gardens on Monday.
After losing to KKR by 5 wickets, Shikhar Dhawan said, "Feels bad, of course not feeling great, we lost the match. Not an easy track to bat on, felt that we had a good total. In the end, they played well. It was a great effort from Arshdeep, the way he has bounced back from the last game. All credit to him that he took the game to the last ball. I feel we don't have a good off-spinner, that is where we are leaking a bit of runs when left-handers come in. This wicket was offering turn as well, that is where we took the hit." A half-century by Nitish Rana and fiery cameos from Andre Russell and Rinku Singh helped Kolkata clinch a five-wicket win. In the chase of 180, Nitish scored 51 off 38 and Andre Russell smashed 42 of 23 balls. For PBKS, Rahul Chahar picked two wickets conceding 23 runs in four overs. Harpreet Brar and Nathan Ellis dismissed one batter each. Earlier, a half-century by skipper Shikhar Dhawan and late cameos by Shahrukh Khan and Harpreet Brar guided Punjab Kings to a competitive 179/7. Shikhar scored 57 off 47 balls, Jitesh Sharma played a cameo of 21 off 18 balls and Rishi Dhawan scored a quick 19 off 11 balls. Varun Chakravarthy was the pick of the bowlers for KKR, taking 3/26 in four overs. Harshit took two wickets while Suyash and Nitish got one each. KKR is in the fifth spot in the points table with five wins, six losses and a total of 10 points. PBKS has slipped to the seventh position in the table with 10 points due to a low net-run rate. (ANI)
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