'It's a huge dent to NRR, need to bounce back strongly' - Coach Ricky Ponting after DC's loss against CSK

Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting expressed his concerns over the team’s net run rate after a bruising defeat against the Chennai Super Kings. Ponting said that a loss by such a big margin has dented the team’s NRR and this could act as an obstacle on their way to the playoffs.

CSK defeated DC by a humungous margin of 91 runs in the 55^th match of the IPL 2022. Devon Conway’s heroics and skipper MS Dhoni’s finishing touches with the bat helped CSK put a total of 208 runs. Chasing that, though DC made a good start, but Moeen Ali wreaked havoc with the ball and scalped three wickets in his spell to break DC’s momentum.

“To lose by 91 runs, will put a huge dent in our net run rate. It means we need to bounce back really strongly in our next game. We would think we can make the playoffs with three wins. Eight wins might be enough to get in and one big win might help our net run rate. Who knows we can be in the final,” said Ponting in a post-match conference.

I fully back every decision Rishabh Pant takes on the field: Ricky Ponting

DC were bowled out for 117 while chasing 209 as Simarjeet Singh, Dwayne Bravo, and Mukesh Choudhary scalped two wickets each. David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, and skipper Rishabh Pant played some beautiful shots when they walked out to bat, but could not withstand the CSK’s bowling attack. But even after the defeat, Ponting backed the skipper saying:

“I fully back every decision he (Pant) takes on the field. Being a T20 captain before, I know you don’t have a lot of time to think about it, especially under extreme pressure. It is easy to make judgments from outside but trust me when you are in the middle it is not an easy thing to do. A captain makes decisions in a very short time and the decision he takes he thinks is the best for the team at that given time of the match.”

Ponting felt that there was not much to take away from the game as the players failed in both the departments. Apart from Pant, he lauded Khaleel Ahmed for his composed spell of 2/28 in four overs under extreme pressure.