Deccan Chargers captain Adam Gilchrist on Sunday said his side's comprehensive eight-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League was a small step in restoring their confidence after their disastrous campaign last season.
Deccan Chargers finished last among eight franchisee teams last year but Gilchrist said a winning start would boost their confidence this season though he refused to read too much on Sunday's outcome.
"The win is definitely a small step in restoring our confidence. It is a perfect start and it will help us to go ahead with a positive approach (in the tournament)," he said after their campaign opener.
"As a team, during training we wanted to take the positives out of last year's performance. So, we would try to build on the tempo from this (win). But it is a long way to go," he added.
Asked whether he was surprised by the brilliant fielding efforts by his boys which saw two run outs to throttle the Knight Riders batsmen towards the end of their innings, the retired great said, "I was not surprised. We wanted to challenge ourselves and we succeeded."
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Brendon McCullum said his side were short of 50 runs to put up a real challenge.
"The runs were not enough, 150 would have been a defendable target under these conditions. We lost key players early on and we could not recover from there," rued the Kiwi wicketkeeper-batsman.
"Everything we planned today did not work out. But it is a long tournament we will bounce back," he said.
