New Delhi [India], May 9 : Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper Axar Patel criticised the team's spinners after it suffered a heavy eight-wicket defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match on Friday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
After DC could only manage 142/8 in 20 overs on the board batting first on the home turf, their spinners, including Axar, Vipraj Nigam and Kuldeep Yadav, gave away 102 runs in nine overs combined.
While Axar impressed with figures of 1/27 in four overs, Kuldeep and Vipraj endured a tough outing as KKR opener Finn Allen smashed an unbeaten 100 off 47 balls to steer his side to victory. Kuldeep leaked 41 runs in his three overs, while Vipraj conceded 34 in two overs, with neither managing to take a wicket as KKR comfortably chased down DC's modest target in just 14.2 overs.
After the match, Axar Patel admitted DC's total was below par and said the spinners made several mistakes on a pitch that offered assistance. He also felt the game shifted when the team lost five wickets in a short span in the first innings, costing them momentum.
"I think the runs were definitely below par, and at the same time, the spinners made quite a few mistakes. Looking at the way the pitch behaved, I feel the spinners did make errors. But at the same time, if you notice, we lost five wickets in two to three overs, and I think that's where the momentum slipped away from us," Axar said at the post-match presentation.
Axar said the team will review their mistakes and begin planning for the future, including assessing strategies for next season and considering giving opportunities to players currently on the bench.
"For now, we'll go back and think about the mistakes we made. After that, there's still a long journey ahead, and next year will come too. So we'll think about what plans we can make for next year and what approach we should take. Based on that, we can also look at the players sitting on the bench and decide who can be given opportunities and what changes we can make," he said.
Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Delhi Capitals by eight wickets. DC, after being sent in to bat, were restricted to 142/8 despite a half-century from Pathum Nissanka and a late 39 from Ashutosh Sharma. Their innings unravelled in the middle overs as they lost wickets in clusters and struggled against KKR's spinners.
For KKR, Kartik Tyagi and Anukul Roy took two wickets each, while disciplined bowling by the spinners kept DC's scoring in check.
Chasing 143, KKR cruised home with 34 balls to spare, led by a stunning unbeaten 100 off 47 balls from Finn Allen, who struck 10 sixes and five fours. He was well supported by Cameron Green, who finished unbeaten on 33.
The result marked KKR's fourth consecutive win of the season.