Nitish Rana took the blame upon himself after KKR’s third defeat in a row in IPL 2023 (Sportzpics)
Nitish Rana admitted that KKR need to step up in the powerplay after Kolkata Knight Riders’ third consecutive defeat in IPL 2023 season
Kolkata Knight Riders suffered their third consecutive defeat in IPL 2023 after losing to Delhi Capitals by 4 wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Thursday which saw David Warner’s side pick up their first points on the board.
Having lost five matches in a row, DC were finally able to snap their losing streak, but KKR are clearly struggling after losing their third game in a row. Skipper Nitish Rana felt that his side needs to perform better in the powerplay and that’s where Delhi won the match as well.
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KKR were completely blown away by the Capitals bowlers, only three batsmen from Rana’s side were able to reach double figures. Apart from Mitchell Marsh, the entire DC bowling unit got at least one wicket. It was a dominant display from the home side.
Speaking in the post-match presentation ceremony, the KKR captain took the responsibility for the defeat saying that he should’ve stayed there after his lost early wickets.
“I think we were 15-20 runs on this difficult pitch. I take the responsibility for this, I should have stood there. Credit to the bowlers though, I think the upcoming games will be good for us,” said Rana.
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He further continued, “We were just trying to delay, but they played really well in the powerplay. That’s where they won the game.”
Despite being reduced to 96/9, KKR were able to score 127 runs thanks to Andre Russell’s hat-trick of sixes in the last over.
Needing 128 runs to win, Delhi Capitals almost made a mockery of their chase as they suffered another middle-order collapse, which was a promising sign for KKR’s bowlers.
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“We need to play well as a team. We need to bowl like the way we did today, if we manage to sort these things out, we can fight better,” added Nitish Rana.
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