Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting was left 'embarrassed' by Delhi Capitals (DC) bowlers' 'unacceptable' display against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Vizag on April 3. While Ponting was disappointed with bowlers lacking consistency, he was more worried about the number of extras they conceded which led to an INR 24 lakh fine on Rishabh Pant for maintaining slow over rate.
"It's pretty hard to assess right now. I mean I was almost embarrassed with our first half of the game today," said Ponting at the post-match press conference. "To concede that many runs...we bowled 17 wides and it took us two hours to bowl our overs as well, so we were two overs behind again, which means the guys bowling last two overs only get to bowl with four fieldsmen outside the circle.
"Lot of things happened in this game that were unacceptable and a lot of things we will talk as a group tonight that we have to fix immediately to go forward in the competition. There will be some good open discussions in the changing room for sure."
Ponting wants to fix issues with DC bowling lineup
This was Pant-led DC’s second over rate offence in a row. If DC maintain a slow over rate in the next game, it may lead to a 100 per cent match fee fine or a one-match ban on the wicketkeeper-batter.
"We can't afford to do that, no other team is doing that. We have been two overs down two games in a row, that's more than 10 minutes down going into the last couple of overs of a bowling innings. It probably didn't cost us today because they'd have gotten 250 anyway but going forward in the tournament, it will definitely cost us something if we can't fix it," he further said.
ALSO READ: One-match ban danger looms over Rishabh Pant! Delhi Capitals players suffer monetary blow after conceding 272 against KKR
DC slipped to the ninth position on the points table after a 106-run loss. This was their third loss of the season. Kuldeep Yadav and Mukesh Kumar's injury caused concerns for DC as they failed to contain KKR batters on a batting paradise of a wicket.
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