Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant admitted that they could have batted better in the middle overs against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Saturday. DC had to chase down 190 runs but lost by 16 runs to suffer their third defeat of the season.
In fact, RCB was struggling at 92-5 after 11.2 overs but Dinesh Karthik changed the course of the game. DK smashed Mustafizur Rahman for 4, 4, 4, 6, 6, 4 in the 18th over of the innings to take 28 runs and Pant feels it was a game-changing moment for them. Karthik was at his absolute best as he smashed an unbeaten knock of 66 runs off just 34 balls and it was the turning point in the game.
On the other hand, David Warner gave a blistering start as he scored 66 runs. However, Mitchell Marsh, who was playing his maiden match of the season, trudged to 14 runs off 24 balls and failed to achieve any kind of momentum.
Thus, Delhi was always behind the asking rate despite a fine cameo of 17-ball 34 from their skipper, Rishabh Pant as the rest of the players failed to contribute in the run-chase.
Delhi could not find the momentum in their batting innings after Rovman Powell and Lalit Yadav were dismissed cheaply.
Rishabh Pant said in the post-match presentation, “I think Warner batted beautifully and gave us every chance to win the match. Can’t blame Marsh, it was his first match and looked a bit rusty, but we could have done better in the middle overs. The wicket got better and better as the innings went along, that over from Mustafizur was a game-changer for us. I think we could bowl according to our plans, but we were under the pump, the way DK batted in the later overs was commendable. One boundary length was shorter and every batter was targeting it, so I changed Kuldeep’s end and he bowled really well. We will have to talk about doing better as a team, we’ll have to learn from our mistakes in the coming games.”
Delhi has failed to achieve the right momentum as they have lost three out of their five matches. The Rishabh Pant-led team will look to bounce back stronger in the upcoming matches.
Delhi will next take on Punjab Kings at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune on Wednesday.
