The Kings XI Punjab clinched a humdinger against the Deccan Chargers on Sunday as the Hyderabad side failed to repeat their last over heroics against the Knight Riders and fell short by just a run. Rohit Sharma once again played a blinder hitting a 26-ball 42 with three boundaries and three sixes but couldn’t rescue the Chargers who managed 133 for eight after the Kings XI had scored 134.

While Kings XI captain Yuvraj Singh was elated with his performance with the ball, helping his team take home two crucial points, his Chargers counterpart Adam Gilchrist was of the view that it was bit tough for Rohit to play saviour twice in a row.

Yuvraj grabbed his second hattrick of the tournament claiming three for 13 in his four overs. Irfan Pathan and Romesh Powar bagged a couple of wickets each.

“What can I say… I think I should start bowling more. Last time when I took a hattrick, we lost. It was a very close game. I am happy to be on the winning side in the end,” he said after the match.

“It was a must-win game for us. We just couldn’t lose today (Sunday),” he added.

Yuvraj lauded his bowlers who bowled well in crunch situations.

“The boys knew that if we lose we are out. So everyone hung in. We bowled well under pressure. (Kumar) Sangakkara batted well and then Brett Lee, Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla and myself bowled well. It was a collective effort. We are hitting the bar everyday,” he said.

“The pitch was a bit on the slower side and I was happy to grab a hattrick and help the side win,” he said while commenting on the pitch.

The second edition of the IPL has been a time for a self-discovery of sorts for the Kings XI captain. While it is true that the southpaw has definitely worked wonders with the ball, Yuvraj has also admitted that captaincy itself seems to bring out the worst in him.

Chargers captain Gilchrist praised Yuvraj for his captaincy.

“It was an amazing game of cricket. The spinners were bowling well for both the teams and Yuvraj made clever use of his spin bowlers,” he said.

Speaking on Rohit’s performance he said: “Lightning doesn’t strike twice, but it almost did. It was a bit of a big ask of him (Rohit) to do it twice in a row. I take a lot of responsibility for starting the slide. I certainly didn’t need to take the risk when I did.”

“We have to regroup ourselves and give our best in the next match. The game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday me be a shoot-out,” the Australian said.