Delhi Capitals team management has come in for flak for holding back sending in-from all-rounder Axar Patel and sending him to bat at No. 7 in their nine-run defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad in Match 40 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match here.
DC failed to chase down the 198-run target as they were restricted to 188/6 in 20 overs. Mayank Markande led from the front with the ball with an excellent spell of 4-0-20-2 as SRH bowlers bounced back and survived Phil Salt's (59 off 35) and Mitchell Marsh's blitzes (63 off 39) to break the three-match losing streak on Saturday night.
Axar was sent in to bat after the likes of Priyam Garg and Sarfaraz Khan, both of whom were dismissed cheaply and remained unbeaten on 29 off 14 balls. With 49 needed off 18, Axar smacked a six off Bhuvneshwar and took 14 off the 18th over. With 35 needed off 12, Natarajan bowled another excellent over as he nailed his yorkers and gave away just 9.
With 26 required off the last over, Bhuvneshwar held his nerve and helped SRH cross the finish line with the home team falling short by 10 runs.
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Delhi Capitals captain David Warner said the reason Axar was sent at No.7 was because he was the only left-hander batter down the order.
"He's (Axar) in good touch and good form, but for us, it's about we got off to a good start and him at the back end...we knew it would be vital with their spinners spinning into left-handers and we only had me and Axar [as lefties]," Warner said after the match on Saturday.
"We had two guys going at that point and holding Axar back at the back end, it can be difficult but they're the challenges that present us when we're actually in the moment and maybe we can think about that, sending him earlier," he said.
The Delhi Capitals captain said their senior players have to take responsibility and one of them have to get a big total.
"We just have to build momentum through the middle with the bat. We need one or two players to get 80+ scores and win games for us. We've been losing too many wickets throughout the middle and that's where we're suffering a little bit. Our senior players have to take responsibility. One of us has to get a big total and then it takes care of itself from there," Warner said.
Warner said they were disappointed to lose the match by nine runs.
"Losing by nine runs, it actually was a pretty nice wicket. Getting in and out of our overs, we were a fraction off tonight. I think Mitch Marsh bowled fantastically through the middle overs and was our best bowler, but coming up nine runs short is pretty disappointing. They took the pace off quite a lot," he said.
He said one of the batters has to stay on and get a big score.
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"At the end of the day when you get two guys off to a good start, it's important that we try to capitalise on that and one of them go on to score a big one. If we were able to do that, it sort of takes it out. But when you lose wickets in the middle and there's no partnerships unfolding, it makes it pretty difficult," said Warner.
Delhi Capitals will next take on table-toppers Gujarat Titans on Tuesday at Ahmedabad.
