David Miller characterized the Gujarat Titans’ strange night out as “one of those results” and “unlucky,” after they were bowled out for a double-digit score, their lowest IPL total ever, in front of their home crowd.
Miller only got two runs before falling to a diving catch by Rishabh Pant behind the wickets, one of several incidents that contributed to the Delhi Capitals captain claiming Player of the Match.
Miller thought the wicket was a “bit” sticky, but it didn’t warrant the “strange” dismissals that were seen.
“There were a couple of wickets that were really unlucky. Just strange dismissals,” Miller said after GT’s six-wicket loss. “He [Shubman Gill] played a bit early and got caught at cover. Another day he was hitting that for four. So, the wicket was a bit sticky but certainly not a 90 all out.
“We were definitely below par tonight. You can make all the excuses in the world, but at the end of the day, we didn’t play good enough cricket.”
Miller, who returned to the side after missing a few games due to injury, felt GT’s powerplay, which saw them lose four wickets, including his own, was difficult to recover from.’
Miller, who made a comeback into the side after missing a few games with injury, reckoned that GT’s powerplay, which saw them lose four wickets including his own, was hard to recover from.
“You are not going to win too many games when you are three or four wickets down in the powerplay. A score of 120+ would have been at least something presentable for the bowlers to bowl at. But below 100 was just not enough.
“So, yeah, it’s one of those things and we just couldn’t get any momentum. Rashid [Khan] came in and played with good intent, and kind of proved maybe playing with a lot of intent was the way forward.”
Despite GT’s third loss in four games, Miller did not see any reason to panic, citing the team’s ability to reach back-to-back finals despite few giving them a chance.
“We got absolutely pumped but the thing is, if we had won tonight, we would have been four from seven,” Miller said. “It just was one of those games where I don’t feel anything went our way. As I said a couple of games ago, I don’t feel there are any areas of major concern. There have been one or two games where we haven’t played to our potential but if everyone just plays the way they can, I think everything is pretty sweet.
“I think it’s just looking at ourselves in the mirror, making sure that we’re ready for the next game.
“Everyone wrote us off the last two years and we were in the finals both years. So it’s just about making sure everyone sticks to their contribution for the team and, most certainly, it was just one of those results tonight.”
“We were definitely below par tonight. You can make all the excuses in the world, but at the end of the day, we didn’t play good enough cricket.”
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