Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting said he was “almost embarrassed” by his team’s “unacceptable” performance against the Kolkata Knight Riders in Visakhapatnam, squandering 106 points after conceding the second-highest overall score in IPL history.
“It’s pretty hard to assess right now,” Ponting said. “I mean, I was almost embarrassed during our first part of the game today, for conceding so many things. I think we played 17 open passes [15] and it took us two hours to play the overs. We had two overs again, which means guys who played the last two overs can only play with 4 outfielders out of the hoop.
“There are a lot of things that happened today in this game that are unacceptable and there are a lot of things that we will communicate as an organization tonight that we want to correct in order to move forward in this tournament.
“Tonight there will be some open and intelligent discussions in the dressing room, that’s for sure. . . There is no excuse on our part. We’ve been governed and largely governed, and we want to step back and have an intelligent discussion about where we’ve been hurt today. “
The Capitals haven’t twice reviewed decisions that would have been overturned, but Ponting said they have bigger issues to contend with. “It’s little things. There are other considerations that are more important to us, what we play with, some of the ratings we had set, and how long it takes us to get around.
“You can’t do that. No other team does that. We’ve lost two overs, two games in a row, so it’s been more than 10 minutes before the last two overs of our bowling innings. “
The Knight Riders went 88-1 in the first six overs, thanks in large part to Sunil Narine’s pinch. Ponting said his team had never competed in the competition: “Our start didn’t help, not even thinking about the first ball of the match [four byes awarded despite replays indicating that Rishabh Pant had lost a slight merit over Phil Salt]. They were given a smart start on the Powerplay.
“If it happens at the beginning of a game, then you’re looking to find your way back into the game, and we weren’t allowed to do that today. They were relentless, as they continued to attack us after the young man. [Angkrish Raghuvanshi], who came early in the No. 3 spot, I think he played really well.
“It allowed [Andre] Russell and the guys to come in and play like they do. They had windows in their hands, so they could keep moving forward. They did a lot of things really well, but we have to be very critical. of ourselves [and] our own performance, and we have to look for tactics to improve for the next game. “
The capitals are in ninth place in the standings after one win and 3 losses in their first 4 games. On Sunday, they will face the winless Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, who are the team below them in the standings after 3 out of 3 losses.