There was huge sense of relief in Delhi Capitals camp after the team registered its first victory in the ongoing IPL defeating Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi here last night .
The Delhi Capitals restricted the Kolkata Knight Riders for 127 before chasing down the total in 19.2 overs.
Delhi Capitals’ wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who picked up figures of 2/15, spoke about the importance of the victory, “The first win is always important to gain momentum. We bowled very well against Kolkata Knight Riders. It was a great effort from our side to restrict them to 127.”
The Delhi franchise was in a spot of bother when Manish Pandey and Aman Khan fell in quick succession during the team’s chase. When asked about the same, Kuldeep said, “We lost back-to-back wickets at one point in the game. But we weren’t too tense as there were few runs to get. Axar and Lalit finished the game for us. You always have to fight for your first win and we did that.”
Speaking about his own bowling performance, Kuldeep said, “I am really happy that my contributions have helped the team win. If I am bowling well and our team is not winning, my performance doesn’t matter.”
Ishant Sharma, who played his first IPL match in two years, returned with fantastic figures of 2/19. When asked about the speedster’s performance, Kuldeep said, “Ishant was very accurate with the ball. And you also gain confidence when you enter the field with an experienced player. He knows the conditions well in Delhi and gave us important breakthroughs. I have massive respect for him as he produced such a performance after being unwell for a week.”
On the other hand Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Nitish Rana took responsibility for the defeat. “We were 15-20 runs short, and we knew the wicket wasn’t easy. I should have batted longer, and at that time, my wicket was crucial. I take the responsibility for this; I should have stood there,” He said after the match.
“Credit to the bowlers, if they can even fight with this total in the upcoming games. The plan was just to delay (their win). DC batters did well in the power play. That’s where they won the game.”
“We need to play well as a team and bowl like the way we did in this game. I’m sure we are playing well if we can fight even with such a low score. If we manage to sort these things out, we can fight better.” he added.