MUMBAI: Delhi Capitals' (DC) captain Rishabh Pant blamed his middle- and lower-order batters for failing to capitalise on the platform provided by David Warner with a blazing half-century as they lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 16 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here on Saturday.
Warner struck a brilliant 66 and had taken Delhi to 94/1 in the 12th over when he got out. Mitchell Marsh scratched around for 24 deliveries to score 14 and Lalit Yadav and Rovman Powell failed to contribute much as Delhi lost their way in their chase of 189/5 posted by RCB after being asked to bat first.
Pant himself blasted a 17-ball 34 but in the end Delhi's chase lost steam and they ended at 173/7 in 20 overs.
Pant said they could have batted better in the middle overs.
"Warner batted beautifully and gave us every chance to win this match. We could've batted better in the middle overs," he said after the match.
The DC captain said he would not blame Marsh for slowing down the tempo and failing to get the ball off the square.
"Can't blame Marsh also because it is his first game (of this season). He looked rusty, but it's part and parcel of the game," he said.
Pant also said Dinesh Karthik never allowed Delhi bowlers to settle towards the backend of the RCB innings.
"I think we could've bowled according to our plans but we were slightly under the pump from DK (Dinesh Karthik) in the latter half. I've said before too, we've got to learn from our mistakes," Pant signed off after Delhi succumbed to their third defeat in five matches.
