IPL 2021: ‘We could have bowled a bit better’ – Rishabh Pant reflects on his first loss as captain

IPL 2021: ‘We could have bowled a bit better’ – Rishabh Pant reflects on his first loss as captain

Rishabh Pant

The 14th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) witnessed yet another low-scoring thriller and it was Rajasthan Royals who came out at the top. A timid bowling effort and some Protea firepower saw Delhi Capitals lose their second game of the season. While David Miller scored a fifty, it was Chris Morris‘ blistering cameo that saw Rajasthan over the line.

DC skipper Rishabh Pant conceded his first defeat as captain in the IPL. Pant feels that his side were a few runs short and that proved to be the difference at the end. The DC batting line up failed majestically in the game. It was Pant’s half-century, a captain’s knock, which helped them to a respectable total.

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“The bowlers did a good job at the start, but we let them get over us in the end. We could have bowled a bit better. It’s part and parcel of the game and dew played a big role in the end. We were 15-20 runs short,” Pant said following the game.

“At least there is something to gain from this match,” Rishabh Pant

Delhi Capitals
Delhi Capitals

At one point in the game, the Capitals were in complete control having dismissed half of RR’s batting order for just 42 runs. But some ordinary bowling and Miller’s brilliant stay brought Rajasthan back into the game. Pant feels that it was a learning curve for the bowlers. He further adds that the dew played a significant role as the slower balls were rendered useless.

“But at least there is something to gain from this match, the bowlers did a great job at the start. Hopefully if something like this happens we can pull it off. In the second innings, there was much more dew, so the slower ball wasn’t stopping. So we had to something in the second innings,” Pant adds.

With the ball in hand, Jaydev Unadkat was brilliant for Rajasthan. Unadkat registered figures of 3 for 15 in his four overs to be adjudged the man of the match. At the end it was Morris’ brilliance with the bat which took RR home. The South African paid off the big bucks RR paid for him as he proved to be the only one standing between his side and a second straight defeat.

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