After winning their first two games in Dubai, the Delhi Capitals suffered their first defeat in IPL 2020, losing to the Sunrisers Hyderabad by 15 runs in Abu Dhabi. Shreyas Iyer, the Capitals’ captain, said that the lack of game-time at a new venue contributed significantly to their defeat.
Iyer, who had opted to chase, felt Sunrisers’ total of 162 for 4 was a par one and said his side was “happy to restrict” them to that score. He also said that the dew they expected in Dubai didn’t set in and therefore batting in the second innings was tougher than what he expected it to be.
“We had actually no idea how to play on this wicket because this is our first game here, and they played their last game here,” Iyer told host broadcaster Star Sports after the match. “So they pretty much outplayed us in all three departments.
It [the pitch] was really surprising. In the second innings, it was two-paced. When I went into bat, I wasn’t getting the ball well onto the bat. We thought the dew factor would play a massive role in the second innings and the ball would come [on] really well. We didn’t really execute the way we wanted to, but lot of learning from this wicket and also the conditions. The next time we come here, we’ll be very prepared.”
Iyer also said that given the bigger boundaries in Abu Dhabi, the Capitals had planned to run more twos on the night and felt they did not capitalise on that aspect of their game. In all, the Capitals ran seven twos in their chase, compared to Sunrisers’ 11 in the first innings.
As for the Sunrisers, they earned their first victory after losing their first two matches, and their captain David Warner credited the yorkers bowled by his seamers for that. He also said that the running between the wickets between Jonny Bairstow and him in their 77-run opening stand, under hot conditions, helped them overcome a difficult opening spell of fast bowling from the Capitals earlier in the evening.
Warner also spoke of the challenge of finding a balanced XI that allows Kane Williamson, who scored a match-winning 41 off 26 balls – to play.
“It is tricky, we’ve always tried hard with that balance,” Warner said. “After Mitchell Marsh got injured, we wondered how we can get some overs out, and young Abhishek Sharma held his nerve, bowled good lines [as the fifth bowler]. But getting an experienced batsman [like Williamson] helps.