Punjab Kings’s bowling coach Charl Langeveldt has asked his batters to “get more runs on the board” following yet another defeat this season. However, PBKS have now lost six of their eight games, including all but one game in Mullanpur as well. It was a familiar batting collapse from PBKS after stand-in captain Sam Curran opted to bat first. But it didn’t go as per the plan as they lost 7 for 47 runs after a half-century opening stand as well. Even Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma couldn’t contribute this time, and managed 142 all out.

“Disappointing. Players are hurt as well as the staff and the fans,” Langeveldt said. “We showed a lot of character with the ball. We had a good powerplay with the bat for the first time in three games but in the middle period, their spinners were too quality for our batters and we struggled. We just need middle order upfront to get more runs. We were probably 20 runs short on that wicket.”

ALSO READ: Kirti Azad welcomes BCCI’s new directive in central contract

However, Gujarat Titans spinners bowled 13 overs among them, the most by a side this season as well, and claimed 7 wickets. R Sai Kishore was the top player with 4 for 33. In response, PBKS preferred Harpreet Singh Bhatia as an Impact Player sub amid a collapse.

“It was the idea, we could have another spinner [Rahul] Chahar to play in but obviously when you’re batting and you’ve had a collapse like that, it’s better to get the runs on board,” Langeveldt reasoned. “That’s something we want to improve, get more runs on the board. We are gonna travel now and we are gonna play on better batting wickets and that would give the batters a bit more confidence going into the last few games. We take every game like a semi-final, final but yeah, it’s one of those things.”

READ ALSO: Michael Vaughan praises Team India after series win over England

“The batters are definitely going to be happy about the next venue [Eden Gardens, Kolkata]. The bowlers need to step up as well when we play at different venues, higher scoring grounds. Hopefully our batters will come good for us,” he concluded. “We still have to have that belief. We are a positive side, the boys showed a lot of character in the field. There’s a lot to play for, we just need to win.”