IPL 2020: ‘It made the difference,’ Ricky Ponting admits SRH top order batsman ‘surprised him’

Sunrisers Hyderabad extended Delhi Capitals’ wait for a berth in the IPL 2020 playoffs, beating them comprehensively by 88 runs and in the process, handing the Capitals their third defeat in a row. Batting first, Sunrisers posted a strong 219/2 with captain David Warner, on his birthday, scoring a half-century, along with wicketkeeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha top scoring with 87.

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Playing ahead of Jonny Bairstow, in his second match of the IPL 2020, Saha surprised DC head coach Ricky Ponting, who felt the wicketkeeper batsman’s knock made the difference.

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“Saha played beautifully today. He actually surprised me a little bit. I know he is a dangerous player but to come back after a long time and playing like he did was a super knock. It was the difference in the game,” said Ponting at the post-match presser.

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“We knew that Kane may come back for this game so Bairstow may have to sit out, which meant Saha would have to come back as WK. We had a good chat in the morning on how we wanted to play against Saha, and obviously Kane if he batted at No.4.”

Chasing a mountain of 220 runs, DC promoted Marcus Stoinis and Shimron Hetmyer ahead of skipper Shreyas Iyer but the move failed as both batsmen couldn’t so much getting out for 5 and 16 respectively. Ponting said the call was made keeping in mind their intention of matching SRH’s Powerplay score of 77.

“Chasing 220, with Rahane and Shikhar at the top, we thought if we lost an early wicket, we would have to match them (SRH) in the powerplay and get to 65 or 70,” the former Australian captain added.

“Stoinis has been in sensational form so far, he was dying for an opportunity at the top-order. It didn’t come off today but it was all circumstantial because we were chasing such a big total. It was a bit of experimentation.”

Delhi Capitals failed to show any resistance in front of SRH bowlers and got cleaned up for 131 in 19 overs. It was their third successive defeat and they have slipped to third place after an 88-run defeat. DC will face Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore in their last two league games and Ponting feels they need to reset things quickly in order to secure a playoff berth.

“We had a rough idea from the start of the game on how many points one might need to qualify. We got to seven wins quite quickly, and now lost three in a row. We have to reset right now. We play MI next and RCB in the last match and if we keep playing the way we are, we will find it hard to win those games. So we have to change things and change them quickly,” he further added.

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