CENTURION: Deccan Chargers coach Darren Lehmann was at his witty best after his side's 12-run loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore in the DLF Indian Premier League here on Thursday. The Australian said his team was keen to take on the table toppers Delhi Daredevils in the semifinal on Friday.
Excerpts from the media conference:On Manish Pandey's hundred: It was a very good hundred. Probably should not have got a hundred (he laughs). He should have got out on naught or may be two but I think our fast bowler helped him. One cannot drop catches in this form of the game. It is great to see a youngster bat that well. I think he played according to the conditions. That is the bravery of Twenty20 cricket. It is great to watch somebody plays like that.
On youngsters benefitting from IPL: I think a lot of young Indian cricketers will benefit by the tournament. Today it was Manish Pandey and there have been quite a few youngsters. It is great. It is always good to see young guys playing hard and their resurgence.
On Deccan Chargers' bowlers: I am a little bit concerned about our bowling. I think we batted quite well. I think we gave away 20 or 30 more runs than we would have thought. I think we should bowl better. But it is great to be in the semifinals. And there is a big game.
On depending too much on Rohit Sharma: I think Herschelle Gibbs played really well. We had our chances in the game and it cannot be really one person every time. Andrew Symonds was our man tonight that he probably played a bad shot which he should have checked. But overall I think we chased well.
On what went wrong: We started the chase well but lost our way in the middle. We will go back and analyze what went wrong and hopefully when we come back on Friday, we will put up a better show.
On Dwayne Smith: There is always a temptation to play him. He has been a match-winner for us and it is always a tough call.
On facing Delhi Daredevils in semifinal: I think it is a great feeling to be in the semifinal. And now we will play against the best side - Delhi Daredevils. It would be a great game of cricket.
On playing back-to-back matches: We played back-to-back matches last week too, didn't we? We are just thinking about Friday's game and that is it.
On youngsters in Deccan Chargers: We have tried a lot of young guys. We are happy with our progress. It is a little difficult to get the right balance but that is how it is. I think it all depends upon BCCI and IPL. It is their call on the cap on overseas players. Personally, it does not matter to me much.
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