We didn't bat intelligently towards the end: Gambhir

Kolkata, April 15 (IANS) Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir blasted his batsmen, saying they lacked intelligence towards the fag end of the innings as his team slumped to a two-run loss against Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match here Sunday.

Knight Riders looked set to overhaul Punjab's score of 134 for nine but faltered towards end. Needing 13 runs of the last two overs the hosts could manage only 10, thanks to some brilliant death bowling by Harmeet Singh and Praveen Kumar.

"We left it till the end. You need to play intelligent cricket. We should have finished it off when we needed 13 off 12. We should have played better as a batting unit," Gambhir said at the the post-match presentation.

An elated Kings XI Punjab captain Adam Gilchrist praised Harmeet for his smart bowling and criticised himself for failing with the bat.

"The guys fought well with the bat, some exceptional spin bowling from Narine and Co. Always felt Harmeet had it in him. I myself din't do well but was trying to make full use of the new ball upfront," he said.

Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Sunil Narine, who was adjudged man of the match for taking five wickets, said his father named him after Indian batting stalwart Sunil Gavaskar.

"I look just to contain and hit the right areas. Pretty much everyone is on BBM (when asked whether he is in touch with his West Indies team-mates)."

"My father named me after you," he told a surprised Gavaskar, who was hosting the match presentation.