Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant thought that the ship had sailed after his team won by five wickets against Mumbai Indians in the second match of the ongoing Indian Premier League at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday.
The Capitals were in a spot of bother as they were tottering at 72-5 while chasing a par score of 178 runs against the five-time champions.
However, Shardul Thakur triggered the comeback for Delhi as he played a fine cameo of 11-ball 22. Subsequently, Lalit Yadav was also able to change gears and got crucial runs in the end. Furthermore, Axar Patel played the match-changing knock of 38 runs off just 17 balls and got his team over the line.
Delhi was under the pressure but these three batters were able to turn the match on its head with their fine batting. Earlier in the innings, Kuldeep Yadav scalped three wickets and conceded only 18 runs in his quota of four overs for Delhi Capitals. Pant rated Kuldeep’s spell as one of the best he has bowled in a long time.
Rishabh Pant said in the post-match presentation, “At the back of our minds with us losing wickets, we felt it was gone, but we just kept believing. We tried to focus on controllables. We knew we didn’t have a lot of manpower with Mitch Marsh and Warner not here. But we just wanted to make use of whatever we had. It is one of the best spells of Kuldeep in a long time. He was just giving it his everything in the nets and at practice. It is important to not be complacent after just one match.”
On the other hand, Tim Seifert provided a quick start to Delhi Capitals as he scored 21 runs off just 14 balls. Seifert also took a fine catch to dismiss Kieron Pollard at midwicket.
Tim Seifert said after the game, “Everything is good. Great way to start the campaign, for me and the team. It was an entertaining (game), T20 cricket. We showed fighting courage. Sometimes you got to stick the mitts out. It was good to see the back of him early (on Pollard’s catch). We have been here for a week. It has been excellent. The cricket we have been talking about (with Ponting) has been excellent. Looking forward to the next few months with him.”
Delhi Capitals was able to come up with a collective effort and they would aim to continue the good show. Delhi Capitals will next face Gujarat Titans on Saturday at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune.
