Rising Pune Supergiants captain Steve Smith called on his team to treat their last match against Kings XI Punjab on Sunday as a final after his team kept their playoff hopes hanging by going down to Delhi Daredevils by seven runs on Friday in Delhi.
“We probably let a few too many runs in the field. 160 was par. Losing wickets at important times hurt us,” said Smith, according to PTI. “We probably let a few too many runs in the field. 160 was par. Losing wickets at important times hurt us.”
Pune will now have to beat Kings XI Punjab on Saturday to clinch a place in the playoffs. They have a mathematical possibility of clinching a qualifying spot even if they lose but they will not want to depend on that.
On his part, Delhi Daredevils captain Zaheer Khan emphaised on the importance of winning, even if they were out of the competition.
“It was important to keep winning, we wanted to put up a good show and win,” said Khan. “It is always good to win, as simple as that.”
He added, “This was a different kind of wicket, we were aiming for 170. 180-190 would be a bonus. We always knew spinners will be in play. We’ve always been in the game. The schedule in a way should have worked in our favour.”