I am really speechless, says Shreyas Iyer after DC's capitulation against KXIP

‘Speechless’ was the term used by Shreyas Iyer to describe his feelings after the Delhi Capitals (DC) suffered a scarcely-believable loss against the Kings XI Punjab on Monday. Just like their previous encounter against Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi struggled to do well in the finishing overs once again but unlike the last game, they could not win this time around. The national capital-based outfit suffered an almighty collapse to lose the game by 14 runs.

Not many would have predicted that they would lose the game with the way they were chasing a modest total of 167. Midway through the 17th over of their chase, Delhi were cruising at 144 for 3 with two set batsmen in the middle.  Rishabh Pant was on 39 and Colin Ingram on 37 as the two had already crossed the 50-run stand. At that stage, it looked like the win was a mere formality for them.

However, things soon changed when Mohammed Shami castled Pant on the fourth delivery of the 17th over. On the very next ball, Chris Morris was run out to set the game for an exciting finish. But it was one-way traffic from thereon as Delhi were all out for just 152, losing their last seven wickets in a space of 17 deliveries and eight runs.

Sam Curran was the architect of their collapse, picking up two wickets apiece in the 18th and the 20th over. He finished the game with stunning figures of 4 for 11 which included a hat-trick, spread over two overs.

“I am really speechless. It is a crucial match and losing such matches is not going to benefit us,” Iyer said at the post-match presentation ceremony. “Really disappointing. With the way we were going, we came to run-a-ball and to lose from there, really disappointing. We didn’t play smart cricket and Punjab outplayed us in all the departments. They were really cool and calm in that situation. Our batsmen did not take the initiative to win the game.”

Ashwin credits Shami and Curran

Unlike Shreyas Iyer, Kings XI Punjab skipper Ravi Ashwin was a delighted man as he credited Shami and Curran for the remarkable win. “Not many times, you defend. When Rishabh hit the six, we just needed to hang in there. Credit to Shami and Curran. We were probably 25 runs short. We backed ourselves to defend with three spinners,” said Ashwin after his team registered its third win of the season.

Here’s our video of the day:

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