I8217;m not hitting the balls the way I used to hit,says Adam Gilchrist

8220;But I8217;m not shattered8230; I8217;m playing and enjoying it. It8217;s not life and death. That8217;s probably one of the great things about a little bit of maturity,8221; the 41-year-old veteran Aussie said of his poor run 94 from eight matches at an average of 11.75.

The under-fire skipper said he was trying his best to contribute as a batsman.

8220;I did more practice leading into this tournament than what I had in any other one. It was nice to get some runs in the middle. Everything felt really good today until I played that shot,8221; he said referring to his soft dismissal with a straight catch to Eoin Morgan.

8220;Obviously you get disappointed and frustrated to get out after feeling good for 20-odd runs. You are never really happy as a batsman. Yes,I8217;ll try to lift the game and contribute to the team.8221;

Kolkata Knight Riders snapped their three-match losing run with a six-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab that revived

the defending champions hope in the IPL.

Gilchrist said Morgan took the game away from them with a

quickfire 26-ball 42.

8220;Jacques Kallis and Manvender Bisla did well to steady the ship but Morgan was the difference in the end. Morgan really took the challenge up and a lot of credit should go to him,8221; Gilchrist said.

He further said his team was 8220;surprised8221; to see Jacques Kallis in the line-up as he had an injury scare in the last match.

8220;I must say I thought Jacques was not turning up today! What8217;s going on there8230; He surprised us,8221; Gilchrist said.

8220;Jacques had a great game with both bat and ball,8221; the Aussie said of the South African who had a tidy bowling performance 4-0-14-2 before his 37 in a 66-run partnership with Bisla pulled KKR through.

Stressing that 150 was defendable especially after they had the opposition down to 10/2 with two wickets in successive balls,Gilchrist said: 8220;I thought 150 was pretty competitive.

We got breakthroughs early and were always in the hunt before Morgan came in.8221;

Defending his bowlers,Gilchrist said: 8220;It was very sweaty and moist out there. In both innings,the ball was difficult to grip. Overall,the bowlers have performed admirably.8221;

Their last match8217;s hero Harmeet Singh had an off day with the ball and Gilchrist said,8221;He started well today. Probably

he would be a bit disappointed with the way he executed a few of his deliveries.8221;

8220;Harmeet bowled a terrific ball right on the middle stump line but it disappeared to fine leg for four. It is impressive. That takes the question to what8217;s affecting batting in Test cricket,if it is or not8230; I8217;m not here to pass judgement but in this format it8217;s wonderful.8221;

Gilchrist said he has always been a hitter of the ball,even though he had seen batsmen experimenting with reverse

sweep early in his career.

8220;There was reverse sweep. I remember Jonty Rhodes doing

way back in 1997 8212; really hard reverse sweeps,actually

smacking the ball for six. I was just flabbergasted by that,8221;

he said.

8220;It8217;s not totally new. That innovation was there right through my career. But I never chose to go that way. I was more of a hitter of the ball.8221;