‘The dimensions of the floor are slightly different. We know they are bigger square boundaries here in Abu Dhabi “- Ponting
Delhi Capitals suffered their first loss of the season on Tuesday at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad in Abu Dhabi. However, his coach, Ricky Ponting, did not want to blame any individual batter for the 15-run loss. None of Delhi’s top four hitters had a healthy hitting rate and they were unable to turn starts into great scores.
“No, not when they came out,” Ponting replied, when asked if the approach of his high-level hitters affected the Delhi chase. “If you have one of those hitters that go on and get a big score, like one of those guys goes on and gets a score of 60 or 70 or higher, then we probably win the game. When we look back now, we were only 15 run to the endgame, so you can split it any way you want.
“Was it just that big change that we missed today, was it that we didn’t get enough in the power play, was it that one of our top spots failed to make a great score? All of the things that we’ll sit down and talk about tonight. , we will analyze what we did well and what we did not do so well in the game. In the capitals of Delhi, we don’t sit around and blame anyone, we lost the team game. “
The former Australian captain was ‘disappointed’ that his team failed to get past the winning line despite enjoying favorable conditions while batting second.
“It didn’t seem to slow down. I think it actually started pretty slow,” Ponting said at the 22-yard strip. “Visually today, it looked like really good ground. A little grass, it was nice and hard. As we saw (with) the new ball, there wasn’t much bounce.
“I don’t think the conditions were that different. The dimensions of the terrain are slightly different. We know they are bigger square boundaries here in Abu Dhabi (than in Dubai). At the end of the day, they outplayed us. We were a little out of our best. absolute level. Could have been a bit better in the second inning, which is disappointing for us. Having won the toss and deciding to pitch first, we wanted to chase, we felt like there might be some dew on the ground and having left the field now, there was a bit of dew there. No excuses from us. “
The Sunrisers, who were inserted at bat, started cautiously and scored just 38 on the power play, courtesy of tight bowling from Delhi bowling with the new ball. However, dangerous starters Jonny Bairstow and David Warner upped the ante and sewed a 77-run position that laid the groundwork for them to go big on hard labor.
“The Sunrisers did what they had to do, especially with the bat. The first-order associations … they rotated the strike well, they got some of the first-order ones to make great scores. So, at the end of the day, that it was the difference in the game. I thought Warner and Bairstow played the conditions very well from the start. They got the limits when they needed it, they both ran exceptionally well with our guys in the outfield, which is something we talk about on this ground. At the end of the day, they got us over.
Hyderabad employed just five bowlers, and left-arm spinner Abshishek Sharma, 20, is the least experienced. “It was pretty obvious who we had to target tonight, that was Abhishek Sharma. He just got away from us a little bit,” admitted Ponting at the press conference.
“We lost a wicket in the eighth over, Rashid Khan came in and took Shreyas Iyer out, which meant Abhishek was able to get away by bowling at a new batter. We really aimed for his third over and his fourth over. We didn’t get as many from his third over. as we needed and the game from that point on started to wear off. Overall they (SRH) did a good job. They got an early wicket, Bhuvneshwar got a wicket early on and they ran the Yorkers better than us. We were outmatched, yes You look back at the skills they showed tonight, compared to us, it’s pretty evident that we have a bit of work to do, “he added.
Kagiso Rabada was Delhi’s best player against Hyderabad. He pitched up front with the new ball and backed it up with an even better one in the death overs. “He’s just the best. Competitor, to be honest,” said Ponting at the Delhi Spearhead. Rabada came back with impressive numbers – 2/21 – and is also currently the IPL’s top land carrier.
“He loves the game, he loves to play. He loves to compete, he loves to take on some of the best hitters in the world. And most of the time, certainly in the last few years anyway for the capitals of Delhi, he performed exceptionally well. okay. There are some little things he works on. I wouldn’t say he’s someone who needs someone to show up and throw eight overs of his long career in training. Every day. He’s more of a bowler, a rhythm bowler. , that’s what we’re working on with him. So far in this tournament, he’s been outstanding once again. “
.
