We Weren't Up To The Mark Tonight: Shreyas Iyer

Shikhar Dhawan’s unbeaten century went in vain as Delhi Capitals lost to Kings XI Punjab by five wickets on Wednesday. They, however, remain on the top of the points table with 7 wins from ten games and are looking set to make it to the playoffs.

Batting first, Delhi Capitals finished their innings on 164 for 5 in the allotted 20 overs. In-form opener Shikhar Dhawan continued his red-hot form with the bat as he became the first-ever player to score back-to-back tons in IPL. He scored an unbeaten 106 off 61 balls to guide Delhi Capitals to the challenging total.

Barring him, none of the other Delhi Capitals batsmen managed to put up a good show with the bat. Prithvi Shaw’s poor run of form continued as he managed to score only 7 from 11 balls while Rishabh Pant, who was returning from injury, scored 14 from 20.

The likes of Marcus Stoinis and Shreyas Iyer failed to get going too but Dhawan made sure to guide his side to a good total. For KXIP, Mohammed Shami was the pick of the bowlers, conceding just 28 runs off his four overs while dismissing Stoinis and Shimron Hetmyer.

In reply, KXIP chased down the total with an over to spare. Nicholas Pooran starred with the bat, smashing 53 off just 28 balls while Glenn Maxwell also played a handy knock of 32. For Delhi, their pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada was the pick of the bowlers, taking 2 for 27 off his four overs.

Shreyas Iyer’s reaction:

Speaking at the end of the game, Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer stated that his team was 10 runs short. He also pointed out Tushar Deshpande’s poor outing with the bowler conceding 41 runs in just two overs including giving away 26 runs in the first over.

The right-handed batsman also had a word of praise for his senior teammate Dhawan before finishing by saying that Delhi Capitals were not up to the mark.

“I feel that we fell around 10 runs short, but we got a lot of learnings from this game. Shikhar’s batting was a positive. Tushar leaked runs but that happens to the best of us. I’m sure he will come back,” Shreyas Iyer said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

“Shikhar read the wicket well, adapted to the situation, he went hard from ball one and passed the message onto the youngsters that the wicket is stopping. He acclimatised to the conditions quicker the others. The good thing is that the boys will be charged up for the next game. We weren’t up to the mark tonight, but I’m sure we will be next time,” he added.

Also Read: Shikhar Dhawan Becomes The 1st Batsman To Score Consecutive IPL 100s

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