Hard work paid off: Bisla

Kolkata, April 27 (IANS) Kolkata Knight Riders opening batsman Manvinder Bisla said his hard work paid off after the wicketkeeper played a valiant inning of unbeaten 51 runs off 44 balls to help his side overcome Kings XI Punjab by six wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match here at Eden Garden.

"I did not do well in the first phase of the tournament and it was important for me to get runs soon. I was disappointed with my performances in the previous games and wanted to get back my confidence in this game. It was important to get runs on the board. I went back to my basics, worked hard in the last ten days to get my game back and the hard work paid off," he told to IPLT20.com.

Bisla had not performed well in the previous matches and scored just 34 runs in his previous five outings.

In the final of the previous edition of the IPL against the Chennai Super Kings, Bisla had scored a brilliant 89 off just 48 balls leading the Knight Riders to their first ever IPL triumph.

Bisla replicated that performance as he stood firm and strung together two crucial partnerships with Jacques Kallis and Eoin Morgan helping his team chase Kings XI's 150 in just 18.2 overs Friday.

Although the home side had lost three consecutive games, Bisla asserted that they were very positive about a comeback.

"We had the belief in ourselves that we will go out there and perform today. I am glad we won and this is only the beginning of better things to come," he said.

When asked if KKR can make it to the top four, he said that the team was not thinking of the final four at the moment.

"We would like to take it one step at a time. We have not won the games we should have and made it a bit difficult for us, but the more wins we get under our belt, the better we will get and the closer we will get to the final four," he added.