In the last over DC needed 14 runs, but pacer Mohammed Siraj (1-44), who bowled some perfect yorkers earlier, defended the target despite Pant hitting him twice for four
Ricky Ponting
Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting sensed that Shimron Hetmyer could win the game in the last over. However, DC lost the match to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by a solitary run off the last ball in the IPL encounter in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
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In a closely contested affair, put in to bat, RCB posted 171-5 in the allotted 20 overs. AB de Villiers’ unbeaten 75 in just 42 balls (3x4, 5x6) was the acme of RCB’s innings. However, in reply, DC’s Hetmyer (53 not out in 25 balls, 2x4, 4x6) and captain Rishabh Pant (unbeaten 58 in 48, 6x4) brought the side on the verge of victory. In the last over DC needed 14 runs, but pacer Mohammed Siraj (1-44), who bowled some perfect yorkers earlier, defended the target despite Pant hitting him twice for four on the last two balls of the clash. After 15 overs DC managed just 111 for four with Hetmyer playing on 15 and Pant on 37.
“With four-five overs to go, we were a long way behind in the game and something special from Hetmyer came and brought us back to a point where I actually felt we were going to win the game in the last over.” Ponting said at the post-match virtual press conference on Tuesday night.
“At the end of the day, we have lost and obviously, I am disappointed and the whole team will be disappointed. But at the same time, I am extremely proud of the way we fought that game,” remarked the former Australian captain.
When asked to whom did DC lose the game, - AB de Villiers’ attacking innings or pacer Siraj and Harshal Patel’s (2-37) yorkers, Ponting said: “I think when you lose a game by one run, it’s pretty hard to say that one individual was a difference. When you lose a game by 30-40 runs you can normally pick up a few instances in the game that were the reasons for the loss. But we are talking about a difference of one ball being fielded on the boundary or one ball getting stopped at short fine-leg or getting past a fielder. So, at the end of the day we lost and we’re obviously disappointed.”
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