Kuldeep Yadav and Ricky Ponting were frustrated with Delhi Capitals’ fielders (Twitter Image)
Despite the 15-run win, Delhi didn’t look very convincing with their performances, especially in the fielding department where they were below average.
Delhi Capitals registered a 15-run win over Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League match on Wednesday at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala. It was more of a consolation win for David Warner and Co. who are already out of the playoffs race but the two points helped them move up on the points table and leave the bottom place for Sunrisers Hyderabad. However, despite the 15-run win, Delhi didn’t look very convincing with their performances, especially in the fielding department where they were below average.
In their second last match of the season, Delhi dropped a couple of easy catches and also missed chances for the run-out in the field. Kuldeep Yadav and Ricky Ponting displayed their frustration visible on the camera on the dropped chances. The first dropped catch came in the 8th over when Kuldeep’s tossed-up delivery lured Liam Livingstone to play an aerial shot but he failed to time it well which created a golden chance for Anrich Nortje near the boundary line but he failed to hold on to it. Kuldeep was frustrated with the dropped catch and screamed loudly.
The wrist-spinner produced another chance in his next over and that time the batter was Atharva Taide and the fielder was Yash Dhull who also dropped a sitter which left DC head coach Ponting in disbelief.
While things didn’t improve much as in the next over only Delhi missed a chance to run out both batters on the same delivery.
While Nortje also admitted the poor fielding made it difficult for Kuldeep who remained wicketless despite being the most impressive bowler for Capitals.
“I must say Kuldeep was our best bowler today, we made it difficult for him by dropping those many,” he said after the match.
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Already out of the playoff race, Delhi Capitals finally came to the party in their penultimate match of the season to post an imposing 213/2 after PBKS opted to bowl.
Rilee Rossouw exhibited some exceptional strokeplay in a 37-ball 82 not out, while Prithvi Shaw (54; 38b) also slammed a fifty on his comeback after about a month as DC scored their first 200-plus total of this season.
In response, PBKS managed just 198/8 in the stipulated 20 overs despite all the fielding harakiri committed by DC.