Delhi Capitals (DC) captain Rishabh Pant was a pleased man after his team got over the line in a low-scoring game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday (April 28). It was their second win over the Shreyas Iyer-led side and fourth overall from eight games so far.
Pant won the toss and elected to bowl first, and his bowlers delivered as they restricted KKR to 146/9 despite a valiant 57 by Nitish Rana. Mustafizur Rahman (3/18) and Kuldeep Yadav (4/14) were the best bowlers for DC.
Chasing the moderate target, DC lost Prithvi Shaw for a golden duck and Mitchell Marsh for 13, but David Warner (42) batted brilliantly and stitched a 65-run partnership with Lalit Yadav (22). DC suffered a scare as they lost three wickets for two runs including Pant to be 84/5, but Rovman Powell (33*), Akshar Patel (24) and Shardul Thakur (8*) carried the side over the line with an over to spare.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Pant told Star Sports that DC planned to take game deep after the batting collapse in the middle, “We were thinking (of the wobble) because we lost too many wickets in the middle but at the same time we thought if we take the game deep, we can win it,”
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Availability of players has been a concern for Delhi Capitals through the season due to injuries to Mitchell Marsh, Anrich Nortje and now Khaleel Ahmed and then COVID-19, but now things seem to be getting better for the franchise.
“It is good to have Marsh back. We haven't thought (about this as the best XI) as hundred percent. Khaleel got injured and that was a forced change, once he is back then we will have our best XI,” Pant said.
On Rovman Powell's innings and DC being sixth on the table after eight games, Pant said, “We see him (Powell) as a finisher but like today when we lost too many wickets, he has to come up and do the job. We are not thinking about the points table and take one game at a time. We have to be more clear with our plans and that is something we can improve,”
When asked about his amazing catch off Kuldeep Yadav, he said, “I was just watching the ball till the end (referring to his low catch). I have been keeping a lot in the nets and that was my best catch throughout the season,”
The wicketkeeper-batter then explained why Kuldeep Yadav didn't complete his spell despite taking 4/14 in three overs, “I thought we would give him (Kuldeep) his final over from the other end but then the ball kept getting wet and I also wanted to change the pace, that's why I brought the fast bowlers in but it didn't work,” Pant signed off.
(With Cricbuzz inputs)
