Bowlers have given Punjab self-belief, says Rahul

Sharjah, Sept 25 (PTI): Punjab Kings skipper KL Rahul on Saturday said the narrow five-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL match here has given them the self belief that the bowlers can restrict any opposition if they have decent runs on the board.
Sent in to bat, Punjab Kings could manage 125 for 7 on a slow wicket but the bowlers produced a clinical performance to restrict SRH to 120 for 7 in 20 overs and keep their IPL play-off hopes alive.
“We wanted to get another 20-30 more runs but we’ll take the win. It gives us a belief that no matter what the situation is, our bowlers can get the opposition out if we get a decent score,” Rahul said in the post-match presentation. “(Mohammed) Shami to start of, bowled really well, getting two big batters in (David) Warner and (Kane) Williamson. Made it easier for our spinners to settle into a nice line and length.” The 21-year-old Ravi Bishnoi (3/24) was the pick of the bowlers as he ran through the SRH middle order after Shami rocked the run chase early on by dismissing both David Warner (2) and captain Kane Williamson (1) cheaply in the first and third overs respectively.
Chasing 126 for a win on a slow Sharjah Cricket Stadium track, SRH ended at 120 for 7 in 20 overs. Punjab, however, didn’t put up a good show with the bat and Rahul said that the batters should realise that they need to approach their batting after assessing the conditions. “Lesson for the batsmen would be to realise that it’s not a 160-170 surface, if we had built a few partnerships, we could have got to 140-150,” he said.
Rahul also praised West Indian Jason Holder (3/19, 47 not out) for his all-round show.
“He (Holder) played exceedingly well. First with the ball, taking those two wickets in an over and then batted really well, on a track where it was difficult to play the big shots.”