Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper Shreyas Iyer admitted that his team was 10 runs short of the par score after they suffered a five-wicket defeat at the hands of Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in Dubai on Tuesday (October 20).
Opting to bat first, DC posted 164/5 in 20 overs on the back of Shikhar Dhawan’s scintillating century (106 not out off 61 balls). Apart from Dhawan, none of the Delhi batsmen managed to touch the 15-run mark.
Mohammad Shami was the pick of the bowlers for KXIP, claiming 2 wickets by conceding 28 runs in his four overs.
In reply, Kings XI rode on Nicholas Pooran’s blazing 28-ball 53 and contributions from Glenn Maxwell (32 off 24 balls) and Chris Gayle (29 off 13 balls) to overhaul the target with an over to spare.
"I feel we fell 10 runs short. Nevertheless, we have got a lot of learnings from this game. Shikhar batted brilliantly, that is positive. Tushar leaked a lot of runs, but this has happened to the best of all. So he will learn a lot from him," Iyer said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
"The message from Shikhar to the new batsmen was that the wicket was stopping a little bit," he added.
By virtue of this victory, KXIP have claimed the fifth position on the points table with 8 points from 10 games while Delhi Capitals are still heading the list with 14 points from 10 outings.
"I am really glad this happened because the boys will be really motivated in the next game. The fielding wasn't up to the mark. So we will learn from this and come back," said Iyer.
Delhi Capitals will take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their next game on Saturday (October 24).