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"I was almost embarrassed....": DC coach Ricky Ponting blasts team after loss to KKR
After the 106-run loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match, Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting said that he was embarrassed with his side's first half of the game and how his side conceded too many runs while bowling at a slow-over rate.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) produced a remarkable performance in all facets of the game against Delhi Capitals in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday.
Following the match in the post-match press conference, Ponting said, "I was almost embarrassed with our first half of the game today - to concede that many runs. It took us two hours as well to bowl our overs, so we were two overs behind again, which means the guys bowling the last two overs only get to bowl with four fielders outside the circle."
"There are a lot of things that happened in this game that are unacceptable; we have to fix [them] immediately to go forward in this tournament," the former Australian skipper added.
Ponting said that KKR were relentless throughout the game.
"They got off to a flying start in the powerplay. They were around 90 runs after six overs. That phase is not ideal; if that happens at the start of the game, then you are always trying to find your way back into the game and they did not allow us to do that today. They were relentless. We have got to be very critical on ourselves," Ponting said.
DC skipper Pant scored a back-to-back half-century during the match, but during the game, he called a physio while batting. Ponting said it might have been just tiredness and he was moving pretty well while batting.
"I saw he called a physio out. It might have just been a bit of tiredness. Looked like he was moving pretty well when he batted. I think we should just concentrate on the way he batted tonight. I did not see him hobbling at all after he called the physio out. I saw him doing a little bit of stretching, so there might be a little bit of cramp," the DC head coach said.
However, the coach said that he is pleased with Pant's batting and a situation where he needed to attack was something he needed to get his confidence back.
"Pleased for him, what he did with the bat. A situation like that, where he had to go out and attack from the start is probably a scenario that he needed just to get some confidence back. He is actually had two good games with the bat now which is great," said Ponting.
Talking about skipper Rishabh missing taking a DRS against Sunil Narine during KKR's batting, Ponting said that, "Narine was missed and then Shreyas Iyer was missed later on. I am not sure what happened there. Obviously, Rishabh had not heard them. Other fielders and bowlers on the ground actually heard something on both occasions," he added.