Failure to defend big totals reason for flop
Gujarat Lions posted 208/7, their highest total in the history of the Indian Premier League in their clash against Delhi Daredevils at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Thursday. However, it was not enough as Rishabh Pant’s brutal 97 off 43 balls helped Delhi Daredevils achieve the second-highest successful chase in the IPL.
Delhi Daredevils’ sevenwicket win pushed Gujarat Lions out of the play-off race and Dinesh Karthik said that the inability to defend totals in this edition was the main reason behind their exit.
Speaking in the post-match press conference, Karthik said, “We have not been able to defend one score till now. We are heavily dependant on our batting. That puts a lot of pressure on the batsman to score big. We got a big score today but Delhi chased it down in just 18 overs. That has been the story of our season.”
Gujarat Lions have struggled to defend big totals. Against Kolkata Knight Riders, they lost by 10 wickets after posting 183. Against Mumbai Indians, they could not defend 176 while in this game against Delhi Daredevils, they failed to defend 208.
Karthik added that Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson took the game away from them. “The first half belonged to us. However, Delhi Daredevils dominated the second half. Credit to Pant and Samson for the way they played. Hitting boundaries at will and making the ground look small was a tribute to their skill set,” the wicketkeeper-batsman said.
Gujarat Lions will be hoping to spoil the party of the other teams and their next match will be against KXIP, a team in the race for the play-offs.
AGAINST KKR, THEY LOST BY 10 WICKETS AFTER POSTING 183. AGAINST MI, THEY COULD NOT DEFEND 176