Bailey credits bowlers for victory in ClT20

Kings XI Punjab skipper George Bailey has credited his bowlers for setting up a five-wicket victory against Hobart Hurricanes in their campaign opener of the Oppo Champions league Twenty20 here.

left-arm spinner Akshar Patel (1/20) along with seamers Parvinder Awana (1/25) and Thisara Perera (2/17) helped Punjab restrict the Hurricanes to 144/6 after Bailey won the toss and invited them to bat.

Giving credit to his bowlers, Bailey said, "It was a great start by our bowlers, really really proud of the way they started because a bit has been written about how they went in the IPl.

"I thought they bowled exceptionally well tonight (last night), their plans were outstanding, they executed their plans really well, at the start and in the end, which are the two most difficult times to bowl."

"I thought Anureet and Parvinder Awana led the way and Akshar Patel did what he always does, but our two quicks (Perera and Awana) were outstanding, Thisara was outstanding. I think those guys deserve all the credit tonight, they set the things for us and kept Hurricanes on what was a par score," Bailey said.

During their chase, Kings XI were reduced to 51/4 before Glenn Maxwell hammered 43 runs off 25 balls to turn things around for the home team. Thereafter, Bailey (34 runs of 27 balls) and Thisara Perera (35 off 20) shared a blistering 69-run stand to make short work of the target in 17.4 overs.

Bailey said after their bowlers restricted the Hurricanes to a modest score, it was Maxwell and Sri lankan Perera who held on to their nerves.

"It was a nerve wracking game. For those guys to come out when we lost three and five wickets, playing their natural game was really important, they set a great standard and we were back on track," he said while praising Perera and Maxwell.

When asked if he found it easier to captain his Big Bash teammates since he knew the opposition so well, Bailey said in a lighter vein, "Yeah, I think so."

He said there were times in the game when he thought some opposition players threatened to take things on, "but credit to our boys that they stuck at it and they executed the plans that we discussed, really well, particularly in the end."

"At one stage I was thinking that 160-165 was on, but they pulled that back without necessarily taking wickets. We have challenged our bowlers to want to be the death bowler to take that on as a challenge and both those guys stood up, which was outstanding," he said.

About the pitch, Bailey said, the Mohali track is a "beautiful batting wicket, absolutely".

He said that there was not much dew and "it certainly felt like the ball was coming on nicely."

When asked if the decision to bowl first had anything to do with the fact that KXIP has emerged as a good chasing side, Bailey opined that such decisions are set by lot of things and pointed out "it doesn't really matter what you do, as long as you do the first one really well, that's what we did."