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Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting feels too many dot balls in the middle overs while chasing a gettable 168-run target cost his side the IPL match against Chennai Super Kings here.
Chasing CSK’s modest 167 for 8, DC lost the match by 27 runs to the four-time champion on Wednesday.
“We lost two early, then we lost three early, and then the spinners came on…we didn’t show any urgency against the spinners,” Ponting told reporters after the match.
“There were about 34 dot balls in the middle of the game…you are never going to win chasing a score if there are that many dot balls through the middle phase,” he added.
The former Australia skipper also rued the fact that the team had lost wickets in the first over several times this season.
“I think that is the fifth, sixth, maybe seventh time this season where we have lost a wicket in the first over of the game. On one occasion, we lost two wickets in the first over of the game. That is clearly an area that we haven’t got right…is pretty obvious where the game was lost,” Ponting said.
“Lack of urgency against the spinners”
He, however, praised DC bowlers for restricting CSK under 170. “I thought the bowlers overall did a really good job. The spinners — Axar (Patel) and Kuldeep Yadav — were good again. Khaleel (Ahmed) before his last over, which went for 20, he bowled 3 overs for 12.”
Ponting further said that out-of-form Prithvi Shaw has been dropped from the playing XI as he didn’t perform to the team’s expectations.
“Prithvi… the fact that he is not playing is an indication that he did not perform as we wanted him to.
“No one has really grabbed the opportunity with both hands yet.”
Cameos, a reflection of how the game is being played: Fleming
Meanwhile, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming said he was happy with the cameos played by the team’s batters and that it was a reflection of how the game is being played.
“I think it’s a reflection of how the game is being played. We’ve asked players to play more high-risk (shots) and the way you compose an innings is a little bit different. So I’m happy with the cameos.
“If it keeps pushing you above par, getting players to come out and play more aggressively…mistakes come with that, but you’ve seen again today maybe a 160 wicket turned into a possible 175-180 (wicket) because we had positive intent through partnerships and guys playing aggressively,” he said.
“(Shivam) Dube is a good example of that, and (Ambati) Rayudu and then MS (Dhoni) at the end. So we created enough to get ahead of the game again, which we were happy with even though we lost seven (eight) wickets.” About skipper Dhoni, Fleming said: “He’s just training a certain way. He knows he’s not going to bat for a long time, and we had a lot of batting ahead. So he has really concentrated on the last three overs. He wasn’t as mobile between the wickets today, but he pushed pretty hard. So he has concentrated on pretty strong hitting practice, and you can see the benefits of that.
“He is just comfortable being able to play around the ground. We know how good a hitter of the ball he is, and his access in certain areas is still very strong. So that cameo (9-ball 20) again at the end was valuable in a hard-fought 20 overs.”
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