The former Australia skipper also reflected how DC had lost wickets in the first over several times this season.
Delhi Capitals lost a match against Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday, and lagged behind by 27 runs to the four-time champions, who scored a modest 167 for 8. Now Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting has mentioned how too many dot balls in the middle overs led to his side’s defeat in the IPL match.
“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 the media after the match, adding, “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.”
The former Australia skipper also reflected how DC 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.
Nonetheless, he praised his team for the bowlers, who restricted 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.”
Talking about out-of-form Prithvi Shaw, who was dropped from the playing XI, Ponting quipped, “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.”
On the other hand, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming was clearly happy with the cameos played by the team’s batters. “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.
Praising Shivam Dube, Fleming signed off by saying, “(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 Mahendra Singh Dhoni, CSK captain, Fleming lastly mentioned, “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.”
