Kolkata Knight Riders skipper GautamGambhir wants his teammates to play "smart and better" cricket intheir remaining two matches after they suffered a seven-wicket defeat againstAuckland Aces in a Group A match of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament,here on Monday night.
"We need to play some smartcricket, some better cricket than what we are capable of and try to get theresults in our favour. Hopefully, we can win both our remaining games,"said Gambhir at the post-match presentation ceremony.
"We need to win our next two games, that's very important for us,"he added. Gambhir said Azhar Mahmood's 10th over made all the difference inwhich the veteran allrounder struck twice to dismiss Jacques Kallis and ManojTiwary.
"Azhar's first over turned the entire momentum in theirfavour. We lost two wickets in that particular over. The way they (AucklandAces) bowled, a lot of credit should be given to them," he said.
Auckland Aces captain Gareth Hopkins lavished praise on Mahmood forhis superb all-round show and said the win against the reigning IPL championshas done their confidence a world of good.
"The win against KKR has really boosted our confidence. Thosetwo wickets by Azhar helped us a lot in restricting them. We got off to a goodstart with the bat and we left it to the master Mahmood to finish it off aswell as he does," he said.
Man-of-the-Match Azhar Mahmood expressed happiness over his performance.
"I am quite pleased with my performance. We prepared reallywell, two weeks before the tournament and it has paid off. Martin Guptill andVincent started off really well and I was able to finish off. Hopefully, I cankeep my form going."