IPL 2020: We Weren't Up to the Mark, Says Shreyas Iyer Following Delhi Capitals' Defeat

Table-toppers Delhi Capitals succumbed to their third loss of the season as they went down against a resurgent Kings XI Punjab side in Dubai by five wickets. Despite scoring a respectable 164/5 wickets, riding on opener Dhawan’s unbeaten 106 off 61 balls (12x4s, 3x6s), DC were at the receiving end, thanks to some collective batting efforts by KXIP, especially Nicholas Pooran (53 off 28 balls) and Glenn Maxwell (32 off 24 balls).

IPL 2020 FULL COVERAGE | IPL 2020 SCHEDULE | IPL 2020 POINTS TABLE

“I feel that we fell around 10 runs short, but we got a lot of learnings from this game. We weren’t up to the mark, but I’m sure we will be next time,” said Shreyas Iyer after the match.

Opting to bat on winning the toss, DC top order failed to fire. However, Dhawan continued his red-hot form & scored his second consecutive IPL ton thereby etching his name in the history books.

“Shikhar read the wicket well, adapted to the situation, he went hard from ball one. He acclimatised to the conditions quicker than others,” added the Delhi Capitals captain.

“Today, it happened that way (that no one could stick around with me). I took the responsibility of holding one end up and was also hitting the boundaries when I got the chance,” said history maker Shikhar Dhawan.

IPL 2020 ORANGE CAP | IPL 2020 PURPLE CAP

The likes of Marcus Stoinis and Shreyas Iyer failed to get going as Delhi set 165 run target for KXIP.

Chasing 165, Punjab endured some early blows as in-form Rahul (15) and Mayank Agarwal (5) fell cheaply while Chris Gayle chipped in with 29 runs.

KXIP were 56/3 wickets in 5.5 overs before Maxwell and Pooran took control of the proceedings and repaired the damage with a crucial 69-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

Rabada did provide a breakthrough for Dc in the form of high-flying Pooran but with run-rate well under control, it always going to be difficult for them to make a comeback. In the end, Deepak Hooda and James Neesham’s unbeaten 20-run partnership to drove Kings XI Punjab home with an over to spare.

Delhi Capitals missed a few golden chances in the field to make a comeback in the match, to which Shreyas Iyer reflected and asserted that the team would learn from it. “I am really glad this happened because the boys will be really motivated in the next game. The fielding wasn’t up to the mark. So we will learn from this and come back.”

KXIP now have eight points from 10 matches and are placed fifth. Rajasthan Royals (RR), too, have eight points, but KL Rahul’s KXIP has a better net run rate (-0.177) than Steve Smith’s RR (-0.591). Both teams are still to play four matches, same as No.1 Delhi, who have 14 points from 10 games.

Get all the IPL news and Cricket Score here

CricketNext

IPL 2020 DC vs KXIP: We Weren't Up to the Mark, Says Shreyas Iyer Following DC's Defeat