Delhi Capitals picked up their first victory of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 against Kolkata Knight Riders at Arun Jaitley Stadium by 4 wickets on April 20 and luck certainly played a crucial role in their victory.
Unexpectedly, rain intervened and forced the game to kick off late than usual time. The new conditions took KKR by surprise and DC capitalize on the opportunity that came knocking on their door.
DC batters, however, struggled to chase down the low target as their batting unit once again surfaced as the major problem in their unsuccessful campaign.
"We were on the luckier side today. We bowled well before as well this season. But the problem is the batting. We need to go back and look at ourselves and see how we can get better. Spinners bowled well. I know we have not played well and need to find a way to bat better. We work hard with the boys and get them back in form. Be it Prithvi, Manish, or Mitch Marsh. They have been important players and around for a while for their respective teams. We have a day off tomorrow and then fly to Hyderabad, hopefully, it will be a good batting wicket there, as it usually is," said Sourav Ganguly Director of Cricket, Delhi Capitals.
The pressure of picking up their first points in IPL 2023 not only affected the players but also the management. For Ganguly, the pressure of picking up the first points in the campaign was just like scoring his first runs in Test format.
"Happy to get off the mark. I was sitting there in the dugout and thinking it was like getting my first Test run (about the pressure to get their first points of the season).
Kolkata Knight Riders were asked to bat first and they barely managed to put up a total of 127 on the board. Andre Russell's last-over heroics played a crucial role in setting up the target. Russell struck three sixes in the final over.
Delhi began their innings steadily but ended up losing wickets in quick succession. The game went to the final over and Axar Patel made sure to finish off the game by chasing the target of 128 with four balls to spare.
Delhi Capitals will be keen to build a winning streak against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 24 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
