Wriddhiman Saha’s blitzkrieg against the Zaheer Khan-led attack powered the Kings XI Punjab to a formidable 181 and set up the match for the hosts in Mohali. The diminutive wicketkeeper-batsman who came to the crease at 48 for two, slammed 52 off 33 balls as he took the attack to the Delhi Daredevils who had elected to field on Saturday evening. Saha was a delight to watch as he stepped out Amit Mishra and then pulled Zaheer to the fence. He smacked three successive boundaries in the 16th over as he worked to boost the total in the death overs. His swashbuckling half-century was crucial to setting DD a stiff target as was Marcus Stoinis’ at the top of the order. While speaking to iplt20.com later, Saha elaborated on his role and plans that helped KXIP clinch their third win of the season. Excerpts from the interview: What was your plan while building on the platform set up by the 45-run opening partnership? My role was to go and rotate the strike initially. I was to give the strike to Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell or David Miller whoever was at the other end. And if while doing that I got the opportunity to hit the boundary then I’d do so.

Can you tell us about taking on Zaheer Khan? Maxi (Glenn Maxwell) and I were batting and with four overs left (after that over) our target was to get as many runs as we can. Zaheer Khan was mostly bowling slower ones so I was waiting that if the delivery is back-of-length then I will try and play my natural shot. Can you tell us how you had prepared for taking him on? When you are at the crease for some time then you get an idea of the pace and how the ball is coming on to the bat and you adapt. By the time I took him on, I had played about 20-25 balls so it was little easier for me. How had the team regrouped before coming into the game? We have been trying to ensure that the batting and bowling clicks well, which wasn’t happening. There was something or the other amiss towards the end. Today however, we clicked as a unit in both the departments which helped. The bowlers - Mohit (Sharma), Stoinis and Sandy (Sandeep Sharma) bowled well towards the end as well. As a batting unit too we did well; we scored a bit more than what has been the par score here. What was the plan behind holding back Sandeep Sharma who has been bowling well upfront for the death overs after bowling the first over? He bowls a good yorker. So if he delivers with Mohit in the death overs it is a big plus for us; that’s why he was held back. Was he also held back because there were more big hitters to come down the order? If the top-order scores runs upfront it doesn’t really help. Whatever kind of batsman comes out to bat, if the bowler has bowled a good yorker it is always difficult to hit him. We had held on to the game well until the end and Mohit and Sandeep executed the plans well. Was the wicket assisting the batsmen?

It was good for batting. It was good with the new ball. A couple of deliveries would stop on the pitch, but if you bided your time you could bat well later.

The fielding too was good, what would you attribute that too? If batting and bowling units click then fielding automatically clicks. We have been playing well as a team in the last two-three matches. We have been missing out towards the end here and there. Today we tried to rectify that, took the game till the end and it worked. Are you feeling good about your own batting?

Yes, feeling good because we won the match. If you contribute to a winning cause then you definitely enjoy it more. Hopefully I continue to do more for the team. How does the team look forward given the position in the points table? We are not looking at the points table. We are only focussing on the matches that we are to play. If the batsmen have done well the bowling unit has to back it up and vice versa.