Mullanpur, March 24
Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting, raised the morale of his side following a four-wicket loss to Punjab Kings in their Indian Premier League (IPL) game yesterday, saying that nothing changes for the side after one game during which they were "almost there" in all departments.
A half-century by Sam Curran and his 67-run partnership with Liam Livingstone helped Punjab Kings (PBKS) secure a four-wicket win over Delhi Capitals (DC) in Rishabh Pant's comeback game during the Indian Premier League at Mullanpur on Saturday. Curran won the 'Player of the Match' for his knock.
In a video by Delhi Capitals, Ponting said, "Bad luck. As far as I am concerned, it was a day when we were almost there. We were almost good with the bat. Everyone was good with the bat, skills were there, the start was there. Bison and Davey (Mitchell Marsh and David Warner) had an awesome start. Shai (Shai Hope) played really well. In the middle overs, we lost four quick wickets, the momentum went out of the innings. Without Abhishek (Abhishek Porel) at the end, we would have got 145, which would have been below-par on that wicket."
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"We were almost good with the ball. The execution was not quite there. Axar and Kuldeep were outstanding. It is a long tournament, would have loved to win one today, but keep the attitude up, love the feel around the place. Nothing changes after one game," he added.
Ponting presented the dressing room 'Player of the Match' awards to spinner Kuldeep Yadav for taking two wickets and Abhishek Porel for his impactful knock of 32 in 10 balls near the end.
Coming to the match, PBKS put DC to bat after winning the toss. Fiery knocks on top by David Warner (29 in 21 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and Mitchell Marsh (20 in 12 balls, with two fours and two sixes) helped DC start well, but they lost their way. Rishabh Pant made 18 off 13 balls in his comeback game. DC was struggling at 147/8, but an explosive cameo from Porel (32 in 10 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) took DC to 174/9 in 20 overs.
Arshdeep Singh (2/28) and Harshal Patel (2/43) were the top bowlers for PBKS.
In the chase of 175, skipper Shikhar Dhawan (22 in 16 balls, with four boundaries) started off well. Prabhsimran Singh also contributed a useful 26 in 17 balls with five fours. But it was the 67-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Sam Curran (63 in 47 balls, with six fours and a six) and Liam Livingstone (38* in 23 balls, with two fours and three sixes) sealed a four-wicket win for PBKS.
Kuldeep Yadav (2/20) and Khaleel Ahmed (2/43) were the top bowlers for DC.
Curran won the 'Player of the Match'.