Could have batted well, feels DC captain Rishabh Pant after loss against GT

Pune: After getting thrashed by Gujarat Titans in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 clash, Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant said that the team could have batted well in the middle overs. Shubman Gill's 84-run knock and Lockie Ferguson's four-wicket haul guide Gujarat Titans to a 14-run win against Delhi Capitals here at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

"I think according to the wicket that total was not so big. We could have batted well, especially in the middle overs, we lost three wickets in the powerplay and three in the middle. I think every match is going to be hard after losing so many wickets.

Depending on the weather conditions (we will decide to bat or bowl first), but we are not thinking about that now and we will see when we come back to Pune," said Pant in a post-match presentation. "He (Ponting) has been amazing since day one. When you lose you feel heartbroken but at the end of the day if you keep improving and have a better environment then people can perform in the next match," he added.

Chasing 172-run target Delhi Capitals did not get an ideal start as skipper Hardik Pandya dismissed Tim Seifert in the very first ball of his bowling spell. In the fourth over Lockie Ferguson was introduced into the attack and the Kiwi pacer struck twice dismissing Prithvi Shaw for 10 and Mandeep Singh for 18 to leave Delhi tottering at 34/3.

Delhi needed a partnership and captain Rishabh Pant along with Lalit Yadav did exactly that taking the team's total beyond the 50-run mark in the seventh over. Pant-Yadav pair struck a fifty run partnership in just 34 balls. The 61-run partnership was broken as Lalit Yadav was run out for 25 to leave Delhi at 95/4. Rovman Powell joined his captain and Pant batted aggressively to take Delhi's total beyond the triple-figure mark.

Ferguson got his third wicket of the match getting the prized scalp of Pant for 43 from 29 balls. In the same over Ferguson got his fourth wicket dismissing all-rounder Axar Patel for 8 caught behind by keeper Matthew Wade to leave Delhi in trouble at 126/6. In the next over Rashid Khan dismissed Shardul Thakur leg before wicket for 2.

In the 18th over Mohammed Shami came back into the attack to strike two blows of two balls first dismissing Rovman Powell leg before wicket and then Khaleel Ahmed for a golden duck caught by keeper Wade to reduce Delhi to 143/9. Delhi managed to score 157/9 in 20 overs falling short by 14 runs as Hardik Pandya led side Gujarat Titans registered their second win in two matches of the season.