Batting did us in, says Gilly

MUMBAI: Deccan Chargers skipper Adam Gilchrist sounded rather phlegmatic about his side's surprising defeat at the hands of Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 3 semifinal at the DY Patil Stadium on Thursday night.
Maybe he thought the run of five wins in a row would be too good to last. "We were in the hunt till the halfway stage. But our group, which had done well under pressure in earlier games, failed for once.In previous matches, at least one or two players have put up their hands and rescued us, but today all our batsmen failed collectively and that is why we could not chase the target."
Gilchrist, however, said he was proud of the team and what they had done. "To reach the semifinals when no one gave us a chance is a great achievement and I am proud of the guys."
When asked why they went slow in the first six overs, Gilchrist said, "We wanted to build a foundation for the other batters, but in hindsight we could have been a bit more aggressive."
On opening with Herschelle Gibbs instead of Monish Mishra, Gilchrist said, "We brought in Gibbs for Mitchell Marsh to strengthen our batting since we knew we could afford to do without Marsh's bowling and with Gibbs a proven opener we decided to open with him."
Gilchrist maintained that the pitch had nothing to do with their defeat. "It was a decent pitch. But you have to realise that around this time of the season, the pitches all over the country are tired because a lot of cricket has been played and they naturally take a lot of turn. It didn't spin big but there was slow turn. Both the bowling sides had a good game."