Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting admitted that they didn’t show any urgency against the spinners after their 27-run loss against Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Wednesday. DC had to chase the target of 168 runs but they could only manage 140-8 in their 20 overs.
Delhi lost the early wickets of David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, and Phil Salt to leave them in tatters at 25-3, which put them on the back foot in the Powerplay overs. Subsequently, Rilee Rossouw and Manish Pandey added 59 runs but it was a run-a-ball partnership that didn’t help them as the required run rate kept going high.
Meanwhile, Maheesh Theekshana, Ravindra Jadeja, and Moeen Ali collectively conceded 51 runs in the 10 overs they bowled and thus they were able to put the brakes in the middle overs. Jadeja returned with match-winning figures of 1-19 in his quota of four overs whereas Moeen Ali gave away only 16 runs in his four overs.
DC batters lacked intent against the opposition’s spinners and it led to their downfall. The visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals and could not get the impetus on their side in the run-chase.
Ponting added they played 34 dot balls in the middle overs and it wasn’t a good effort from their batting unit.
Ricky Ponting said in the post-match press conference, “We lost two early, then we lost three early and then the spinners came on. We didn’t show any urgency against the spinners. There were about 34 dot balls in the middle of the game. You are never going to win chasing a score if there are that many dot balls through the middle phase.”
DC has got off to a poor start in the very first over on multiple occasions in the ongoing season and it has been a repetitive occurrence for them.
“I think that is the fifth, sixth, maybe seventh time this season where we have lost a wicket in the first over of the game. On one occasion, we lost two wickets in the first over of the game. That is clearly an area that we haven’t got right so far. It is pretty obvious where the game was lost.”
Ponting feels Manish Pandey got off to a good start in the season but he trudged to 27 off 29 balls against CSK as he failed to change gears. Furthermore, Prithvi Shaw could not grab his opportunity at the top of the order and thus he was dropped from the final XI. Shaw could only manage 47 runs in the six matches he played.
“Manish [Pandey] started the tournament really well. We were really happy with the way he prepared and got himself ready for the first few games and had some impact for us. Prithvi, the fact that he is not playing, is an indication that he did not perform as we wanted him to at the start of the tournament.
Delhi Capitals will next take on Punjab Kings at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Saturday.
