The left-hander also said his side’s victory over RR was close to a perfect game.
Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper Rishabh Pant was pleased with his side’s performance in the match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Wednesday (May 11) at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. DC thrashed RR by 8 wickets owing to exceptional performances from Mitchell Marsh and David Warner.
On choosing to bowl first after winning the toss, the Capitals were able to restrict the Royals to a below-par score of 160/6 in 20 overs with Chetan Sakariya (2/23), Anrich Nortje (2/39), and Marsh (2/25) taking two wickets each. The Delhi side, despite losing Srikar Bharat's wicket early, was able to chase down the score courtesy of Marsh, who, after bowling exceptionally well, also shone with the bat. The Australian all-rounder scored a blistering 62-ball 89 and opener David Warner too batted impressively scoring an unbeaten half-century (52* off 41 balls).
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DC's regular opener Prithvi Shaw has missed the last few games due to illness. His replacement Bharat was dismissed for a duck on Wednesday.
"We miss him but we can't control that. He has typhoid or something like that is what the doctor told me," Pant told Star Sports after the match.
Despite being inconsistent and dealing with a few cases of Covid-19 in the camp, the Rishabh-led team's massive win on Wednesday has kept them in contention for the IPL 2022 playoffs. The wicketkeeper-batter described the team's win over the 2008 IPL champions as a "close to perfect game," although he added that there was always room for improvement.
"It was close to a perfect game as I believe there is always space for improvement. On these kinds of wickets where there is little turn, you can go either way."
"I am happy we bowled first. I thought 140-160 was a good score and said so at the toss. And we got there. Destiny is always on your hands, you can look to give 100 percent. The fielding could be better, but this was close to a perfect game," he said further.
The Capitals stand at the 5th spot in the points table with 6 wins in twice as many matches. If they win their remaining 2 league stage games and if Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) or the Royals lose even one match, the teams will tie at 16 points at which point the net run rate (NRR) will come into play.
The left-hander’s team has a superior NRR to RCB at the moment, and just below RR's.