The skipper said the 199/6 posted by the Royals would have been tough to overhaul on any wicket. He also praised man of the match Shane Watson, who struck an unbeaten 59 ball 104 for the Royals. In reply to the Royals' challenging score, the Kinghts could manage 190/9.

"199 would be tough on any wicket. Credit to Shane the way he batted. If a top order batsman bats through more, often than not they'd win," said Gambhir. "I thought 170-180 could have been an ideal total. We always knew it would be high-scoring."

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Kolkata's failed to make it to the play-offs having finished the eight-team competition in fifth spot with 15 points from 14 matches.

Gambhir summed up the defending champions' IPL-8 campaign: "The points table shows that all sides are quality. It's one of the difficult leagues to play."