Expressing his disappointment after the loss against Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant is hopeful of turning things around in the upcoming match. DC, on Thursday (March 28), suffered a 12-run defeat at the hands of RR to lose their second game in IPL 2024. Chasing 186 for their first win of the season, the Delhi-based team were 97 for 2 in a stage with David Warner and Rishabh Pant well prepared.
However, both departed in quick succession before Abhishek Porel also missed and left DC reeling at 122 for 5. Tristan Stubbs played a knock of 44 runs off 23 balls but could not propel DC to victory. Needing 17 runs in the last over, Stubbs and Axar Patel could only score four as DC finished their innings at 173 for 5.
Rishabh Pant on loss:
Speaking after the defeat, Rishabh Pant began by saying that he was disappointed and urged his teammates to learn from the defeat. He pointed out that the bowlers failed to finish the innings strongly while the batsmen failed to make an impact in the mid overs.
The Royals scored 77 runs in the last five overs to post a total of over 180. In the last over of the innings, Riyan Parag took Anrich Nortje to the cleaners and smashed him for 25 runs that ultimately made the difference.
“Definitely disappointed. The best thing we can do with this is learn from it,” said Rishabh Pant.
“The players did very well till 15-16 overs, the batsmen sometimes continue till the death and score quickly, that happened in this game. Marsh and Warner got off to a good start but we lost a few wickets in the middle and in the end had too many runs to cover. There are other options, we wanted Nortje to bowl to the death and sometimes he can go for a run, hopefully we can do better in the next match,” he added.
DC’s next game is against reigning champions Chennai Super Kings on March 31. The Rishabh Pant-led team will be desperate to win the game to open their account in IPL 2024. On the other hand, Royals’ next game is against Mumbai Indians on March 31. April 1st.