IPL 2023: None of Delhi Capitals’ Indian batters clicked, says Ricky Ponting | Cricket News – Times of India

CHENNAI: There was an air of inevitability around the Delhi Capitals’ loss on Wednesday night. Once Deepak Chahar sent back David Warner in the first over, anyone who has been keenly following both teams’ progress this season knew which way the match was headed.
A target of 167 was still pretty achievable at that stage, at least on paper, but what transpired was exactly what one had come to expect. DC lost Phil Salt and Mitchell Marsh early, and then the CSK spinners never let the middle order get going.
The defeat has more or less extinguished DC’s hopes of a playoff finish. The performance of the Indian batters has also left a lot to be desired, and in the absence of regular captain and destructive keeper-batter Rishabh Pant, the middle order has looked a bit out of sorts.

“We’ve got a bit more thinking to do. We’ve tried every one of our Indian batters at some stage of the tournament in the middle order, but nobody has really grabbed that opportunity with both hands yet,” said head coach Ricky Ponting.
This was the sixth instance of DC losing a wicket in the first over this season.
Time and again, their batting has let them down.
Losing early wickets has resulted in the batters playing out too many dot balls in the middle overs. It is an obvious pattern, one that has bothered Ponting.

“The game was lost through the middle part of the innings. You’re never going to win while chasing if there are so many dot balls through that middle phase. Losing early wickets is another area that we haven’t got right,” the former Australian captain said.