IPL 2023: I think we were 15-20 runs short on this difficult pitch – Nitish Rana after loss against Delhi Capitals

Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Nitish Rana admitted that they were 15-20 runs short of a par score after their four-wicket loss against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Thursday. After the match was delayed by one hour due to rain, Delhi Capitals got off to a perfect start as they scalped three wickets in the PowerPlay overs to peg the visitors on the back foot.

On a Delhi pitch that had bounce, Mukesh Kumar had Litton Das dismissed in his first over, and then Anrich Nortje accounted for in-form Venkatesh Iyer. Ishant Sharma, playing his first IPL match since 2021, was able to make the most of the known conditions as he dismissed the KKR skipper and his Delhi teammate Nitish Rana.

Jason Roy, playing his first match of the season, got off to a sedate start as wickets fell at the other end. KKR could not get a move on in their innings as the spinners – Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav – took two wickets apiece to further choke the tourists.

Andre Russell gave a late surge to his team in the final over, smashing Mukesh Kumar for three successive sixes to help them post 127 runs on the board.

On the other hand, David Warner, who has struggled to score at a brisk pace, got off to a flying start with a flurry of boundaries. The DC skipper went on to score 57 runs but the panic buttons were hit by the home team after his dismissal. However, they eventually crossed the line as Axar Patel scored an unbeaten 19 after Manish Pandey had contributed with 21 runs.

Nitish Rana said in the post-match presentation, “I think we were 15-20 runs short on this difficult pitch. I take the responsibility for this, I should have stood there. Credit to the bowlers though, I think the upcoming games will be good for us. We were just trying to delay, but they played really well in the powerplay. That’s where they won the game. We need to play well as a team. We need to bowl like the way we did today, if we manage to sort these things out, we can fight better.”

Kolkata Knight Riders will next face Chennai Super Kings at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday.