Andrew Tye: 'It was crucial to break Tewatia-Shreyas stand'

Following Kings XI Punjab’s four-run victory over Delhi Daredevils on Monday night, the Aussie reflected on the closing stages of the match, when spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman denied Iyer 17 runs needed to win.

Andrew Tye is the purple cap holder.

“Nothing is out of reach unless it is 37 (runs) or more (in the final over).”

These words from speedster Andrew Tye aptly summed up the optimism of the teams chasing targets these days in the Indian Premier League.

Following Kings XI Punjab’s four-run victory over Delhi Daredevils on Monday night, the Aussie reflected on the closing stages of the match, when spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman denied Iyer 17 runs needed to win.

“We reached a point where we had to decide whether we make Mujeeb bowl, or take the game out of reach of the other team and save him to bowl the last over. It was crucial to break the partnership between (Rahul) Tewatia and Shreyas (Iyer). That’s why I bowled the 18th over. So we wanted to take the match into the final over and then back the young bowler (Mujeeb).”

Looking back, Tye said, “We knew the power play was pretty crucial. We scored freely as it was the best time to score out there. When bowling, to be able to try and restrict them would leave us with more chances to coming into the backend. In the end, we backed our spin and tried to put it out of reach for them.”

Admiring Iyer for his fighting knock, the Purple Cap holder said, “The way Shreyas batted, he was the man for the job for them (Daredevils). Luckily, Mujeeb did the job.”