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Ricky Ponting, the head coach of the Delhi Capitals, didn’t hold back after his team was humiliated on Wednesday night in Vizag by the Kolkata Knight Riders. After choosing to bat first, KKR amassed the second-highest total in Indian Premier League history with a soaring 272/7 in 20 overs. DC was defeated by 106 runs.
The team’s performance in the game, particularly with the ball and on the field, drew harsh criticism from the previous captain of Australia.
Ponting remarked during the press conference, “It’s pretty hard to assess right now.” “I mean, our first half of the game today almost made me look embarrassed. Our 17 wides were the reason we gave up that many runs. The guys bowling the final two overs will only get to bowl with four fielders outside the circle because it took us two hours to bowl our overs as well. As a result, we are now two overs behind.
Ponting pointed out it was the second time they overshot the bowling time and while KKR were anyway going to post 250-plus on the night, it could cost them dearly in future matches if they can’t correct it.
DC vs KKR highlights – IPL 2024
“Lot of things happened in this game that were unacceptable and a lot of things we will talk as a group tonight that we have to fix immediately to go forward in the competition. There will be some good open discussions in the changing room for sure,” Ponting added.
A pivotal moment of the game was revealed to be a non-review in the PowerPlay. Ishant Sharma bowled the fourth over, and Narine whacked at a short ball that went through to Rishabh Pant. The bowler and keeper did not make any appeals, but Mitch Marsh heard something, and by the time Pant went for a review, the DRS timer had already run out. As it happened, had they reviewed, Narine, who was batting at 24, might have been removed by DC. But Ponting said that wasn’t the worst of their issues.
More significant issues
Narine was one of the two (missed reviews); later on, Shreyas Iyer was also overlooked. What transpired there is unknown to me. Rishabh had obviously not heard them. On both occasions, there was genuine sound heard by other fielders and bowlers on the ground. Ultimately, these are minor issues, and our problems are larger, Ponting remarked.
The Australian also acknowledged that DC was never able to recover from KKR’s early lead, giving special recognition to Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who is 18 years old.
“They had a great start on the powerplay. After six overs, they were roughly 90 runs (88/1). It’s not the best phase of the game because if it occurs at the beginning, you have to constantly fight your way back in, which is something they didn’t let us do today. They persisted in their attacks on us, unrelenting. I think the third-year player played a really good game, which freed up Russ and all those others to play their usual style. They could keep pushing because they had wickets in hand. They performed a great deal of things, but we need to be really critical of ourselves and our own work.
Due to their crushing loss, DC’s Net Run Rate was negatively impacted, and they are currently ranked ninth in the standings. On Sunday at the Wankhede Stadium, they will play the Mumbai Indians, who are also struggling.
KKR was trapped in a world of madhouse mirrors and faulty reasoning for the remainder of the innings. In response, Delhi lost four wickets during the Powerplay. From 51 to 4, Rishabh Pant made a breakthrough. Incredibly, Pant (55, 25b, 4×4, 5×6) struck two sixes and four fours off a Venkatesh Iyer over, scoring 28 runs for Delhi. It appeared as though he had a slight discomfort.
For Delhi, Tristan Stubbs was excellent, amassing 54 off 32 balls that included four fours and four sixes. He smashed two sixes in a row off of Sunil and Varun Chakaravarthy, two spinners.
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