Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting feels South African pacer Anrich Nortje is simply a few spells away from being match prepared and expressed optimism over his availability for his or her subsequent IPL recreation in opposition to Lucknow Super Giants on April 7.
Nortje has been out of aggressive cricket since final November’s T20 World Cup as a consequence of a again and hip harm.
“Nortje bowled 100% this morning (Saturday) in the warm-ups. He has to get through another maybe four or five-over spell at 100% capacity and then I think if he gets clearance from Cricket South Africa, he should be right to go.
“We have got a few more days before our next game, so hopefully he is available for selection for that one,” Ponting mentioned on the digital post-match press convention after dropping by 14 runs in opposition to Gujarat Titans right here on Saturday night time.
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DC coach mentioned the 172-run goal was a chaseable one however early wickets damage their trigger in opposition to the Titans.
Chasing, DC have been diminished to 34 for 3 inside 5 overs by Titans on the MCA Stadium.
“On this wicket, on this ground, we thought it was a very, very chaseable total,” Ponting mentioned.
“Unfortunately for us, for the second game in succession, we were behind the eight-ball early. There were a few too many quite soft dismissals from our batsmen tonight.
“If you are losing three wickets in the powerplay, it’s really hard to win games from there. We know that, the stats say that, they have said that right through the history of T20 cricket. That’s certainly one area that we got to get better at, getting through that powerplay. None or one down would be a nice start to a run chase,” he mentioned.
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The lack of early wickets, however, DC have been in an important place to chase down the goal, needing 54 runs off the final six overs with skipper Rishabh Pant and Rovman Powell on the crease.
“There probably was a little bit of panic. At no stage did the run rate go out of hand and that’s what probably makes it a more disappointing loss than it probably looks on the scoreboard,” Ponting mentioned.
“We had Rishabh in the middle of really good innings. Rovman Powell had just gone out. If those two had been out to bat together for two-three more overs, I think we would have won the game. But we were not good enough to do it.”
Titans quick bowler Lockie Ferguson, who returned with match-winning figures of 4 for 28, mentioned his focus was solely on bowling in the appropriate areas.
“There was a little bit of nip in the pitch. My job was pretty simple to bowl in the right areas and try to find the nip off the pitch,” he mentioned.
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