IPL 2020 Final: Bowlers lost the plot in powerplay, says Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer

Dubai, November 11: Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer said that his bowlers lost the plot in the powerplay and as a result, they were chasing the game since the start against Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2020 Final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on Tuesday (November 10).

After Trent Boult's brilliance with the new ball, Mumbai Indians rode on Rohit Sharma's fifty to defeat Delhi Capitals by five wickets and claimed their fifth IPL title.

Opting to bat first, DC were pegged back early by Boult, but Iyer and Rishabh Pant combined to post a decent total. The skipper said he doesn't regret with his decision to bat first after winning the toss.

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"I personally don't regret my decision to bat first after winning the toss, I thought it was a good decision of batting first as there was not much pressure," said Iyer during the post-match press conference.

Iyer said in matches like a final, it is important to get good starts, but they failed to do so with the ball in powerplay.

"I feel in such big matches, you back your strength and in the last game, when we batted first, we really posted a good total, bowlers have been fantastic for us this season, it's just that the fatigue that crept in maybe, bowlers just lost it in the powerplay," added Iyer.

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However, the skipper was all praise for his team's bowlers especially Kagiso Rabada and Ravichandran Ashwin, who has bowled many times inside the powerplay.

"They (bowlers) have been outstanding, Rabada got the Purple Cap, he has been putting the gas throughout, Ashwin has a great mind and he knows the strategy, he comes in and he executes just the way teams want him to.

Iyer once again stressed on the fact DC have to improve in bowling in powerplay and getting good starts, which he feels his side have lacked during the season.

"As you see, we have been lacking in the starts in the majority of our games, that's what we need to work on going forward, we have leaked a lot of runs in the powerplay so we need to get tighter in that aspect as well, majority of the things will be same next season," he added.

After a terrible start, Iyer and Pant scored 65 and 56 respectively as Delhi Capitals posted a total of 156/7 in the allotted twenty overs. And Iyer was satisfied with the score they managed to put on board at the end of powerplay despite the slow start.

"You see definitely when you enter the finals, you want to get off to a good start and that is what we lacked in this game. Obviously, there was the pressure of getting a good total in the powerplay, but we lost wickets so it was important that we scored runs and not lost wickets," said Iyer.

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"I think we reached a decent score in the powerplay, we were 41-3 and after that, we capitalised on that and got to a decent total until the 15th over, but after that everything came down."

Iyer and Pant began their partnership when Delhi were struggling at 22/3 in 3.3 overs. The duo then combined for a 96 runs stand, but once Pant got out in the 15th over, Delhi's innings once again got derailed.

"Rishabh and I were just backing our ability, we needed to rotate the strike as well so it was important to get 8-9 runs off every bowler and we had posted a decent total around the 15th over mark," Iyer concluded.

(With Agency inputs)