'I was EMBARRASED. This is UNACCEPTABLE': Furious Ricky Ponting BLASTS Delhi Capitals, action coming

In the IPL 2024 match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals, Knight Riders dominated with a strong performance. Batting first after winning the toss, KKR posted an impressive total of 272/7 in 20 overs. Sunil Narine stood out, scoring a quickfire 85 runs and taking 1/29 with the ball. In response, Delhi Capitals struggled, managing only 166 runs in 17.2 overs. Player of the Match was deservedly awarded to Sunil Narine for his exceptional all-round performance. KKR emerged victorious by a significant margin of 106 runs, showcasing their dominance in the match.

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Ricky Ponting calls DC’s loss by 106 ‘unacceptable’ 

The iconic Australian captain and head coach of the Delhi-based franchise, Ricky Ponting, expressed his profound dissatisfaction with his team's performance after they lost badly against KKR in the IPL 2024 at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Vizag, losing by 106 runs. Ponting declared that Delhi's performance was intolerable and acknowledged that the result of the game nearly made him feel ashamed. DC, who had only one victory in their first four games, dropped to ninth place in the IPL 2024 points standings after their third loss of the season.

Following their crushing loss to KKR, Ponting stressed to the media during the post-match news conference the need for open communication within the team. He demonstrated the extent of KKR's batting ability as they amassed the second-highest total in IPL history against DC, amassing 272 runs before bowling out the hosts for 166 runs in 17.2 overs. During the post-match press conference, Ricky Ponting said: 

“It's pretty hard to assess right now. I mean I was almost embarrassed with our first half of the game today. To concede that many runs, we bowled 17 wides and it took us two hours to bowl our overs as well, so we were two overs behind again, which means the guys bowling last two overs only get to bowl with four fieldsmen outside the circle,” 

“Lot of things happened in this game that were unacceptable and a lot of things we will talk as a group tonight that we have to fix immediately to go forward in the competition. There will be some good open discussions in the changing room for sure,” 

“I thought the youngster at No.3 (Angkrish Raghuvanshi) played really well and that allowed Russ (Andre Russell) and all those guys to play the way they always play. And they had wickets in hand, so they can keep going hard. They did lots of things really well but we got to be really critical of ourselves, on our own performances, and we got to look at ways to get better for the next game,”

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Young hitter Angkrish Raghuvanshi of the Kolkata Knight Riders was commended by Ricky Ponting for his outstanding effort, and the head coach also acknowledged that Raghuvanshi's innings allowed Andre Russell to play more freely. Raghuvanshi's remarkable effort of 54 runs off 27 balls against the Delhi Capitals earned him plaudits, giving him the competition's seventh-youngest hitter to reach a half-century.

Despite the loss against KKR, the Delhi Capitals are desperate to restore momentum and return to winning ways. They will look to rebound well when they meet the Hardik Pandya's Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, April 7, 2024.