Following his team’s crushing loss at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday, Delhi Capitals captain Axar Patel has asked his bowlers to step up.After starting the campaign with five successive wins, Delhi Capitals have completely lost their plot, and their chances of qualifying for the playoffs look slim.“Fielding and bowling in the powerplay need to improve,” Axar said at the post-match presentation.Axar Patel also hailed his opponents for their batting performance and added that the ball was coming nicely onto the bat in the second innings.“The way they batted was excellent. The wicket also got better as the game went on,” he said.Batting first, Delhi Capitals lost Faf du Plessis early. A 90-run stand between KL Rahul and Abishek Porel (30 off 19 balls, with a four and three sixes), along with cameos from skipper Axar Patel (25 off 16 balls, with two fours and a six) and Tristan Stubbs (21* off 10 balls, with two sixes), helped Delhi reach 199/3.
“We felt we had a par score. Got a good finish, KL (Rahul) batted well. Our bowlers tried hard but could not get the win. The way we batted was a positive given the last couple of games,” said Axar.Delhi’s bowling struggled against Shubman Gill (93* off 53 balls, with three fours and seven sixes) and Sai Sudharsan (108* off 61 balls, with 12 fours and four sixes). They put on a dominant, unbeaten 205-run partnership, helping Gujarat win with an over to spare.Who’s that IPL player?“The ball came on nicely in the second innings. It didn’t stick in the pitch like it did in the first innings. They didn’t lose wickets, which made it easier as well,” said Axar.With this win, GT have made it to the playoffs, with nine wins and three losses, giving them 18 points. DC are in fifth spot, with six wins and five losses. One of their matches ended in a no-result. They have 13 points.
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