Iyer blames team’s bowling, fielding after loss to DC

Skipper Shreyas Iyer did not mince words after Punjab Kings slumped to their fourth successive defeat, blaming the team’s bowling and fielding after failing to defend what he felt was a total “30 runs more” than par on a tricky pitch against Delhi Capitals.

PBKS lost by three wickets to Delhi Capitals in a home IPL game here on Monday.

“I won’t beat around the bush, I’ll just say fielding and bowling again,” Iyer said.

Priyansh Arya hit half a dozen sixes in his whirlwind 33-ball 56 before DC pacers tweaked their lengths to limit Punjab Kings to 210 for five. Besides Arya, Iyer made 59 not out off 36 balls to push PBKS to 210 for 5 on a wicket that had something for the fast bowlers.

Aggressive knocks from David Miller (51 off 28) and skipper Axar Patel (56 off 30) allowed DC to gun down 211 in 19 overs for the highest chase at the HPCA Stadium.

Asked if he thought 210 was a good score on this wicket, Iyer said: “Absolutely, I feel that it was 30 runs more on this wicket considering how the ball was seaming and there was variable bounce.”

Iyer said he thought of bringing in impact substitute Yuzvendra Chahal into the attack but changed his mind, witnessing the assistance for the seamers from the pitch.

“There was absolutely a thought in my mind (on introducing Chahal), but the way ball was seaming and the way it was helping seamers, I think if we would have executed our line and length precisely, we could have been able to extract wickets, but unfortunately again, we didn’t.

“I always say that the hard length — short of a hard length — is the best ball, especially when a new batsman is coming in. It’s not easy to hit because if you keep repeating those balls, at least one ball gives a chance of mis-hitting and you can get a wicket. We’ve been short of planning,” he said.

Winning captain Axar Patel said DC executed their plans well in the crucial moments against Punjab Kings, an area where the side had previously fallen short.

“Since last time I have been saying we are losing the crucial moments. We are a good team, playing a good cricket but not winning those crucial moments. Really happy with the way we played and hopefully we continue playing like this,” he said.

“The first 3-4 overs we went for 60 runs and we pulled things back. In the middle overs the way Madhav and Mukesh bowled were the winning moments.

“Even with the bat, after my dismissal, the way Miller, Ashutosh and Madhav batted it was great. The ball was swinging and seaming, we didn’t bowl in the right areas in the first 3-4 overs but it was doing something right through, that’s why I didn’t use spin.”