Ponting: 'Our fielding after first four overs was really sloppy'

Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting reckoned that dropping Kyle Mayers early on, and the team's lacklustre fielding in general, was a big reason behind their 50-run loss against Lucknow Super Giants.

Mayers was on 14 off 15 balls when Khaleel Ahmed shelled a sitter at short third off Chetan Sakariya in the sixth over. The opener then flicked a switch and clubbed 59 off his next 23 balls. As a result, Super Giants amassed 193 for 6 despite being 30 for 1 after the powerplay. It was the fourth-highest total in Lucknow across all T20s.

"To be totally honest, I think they got more runs than they probably should have," Ponting said after the game. "I don't think we helped ourselves in the field today. Our fielding after the first four overs was really sloppy.

"A couple of chances went down, a few misfields. One of those chances that went down was Mayers', who ended up going on a bit of a run after that, which put us behind the game a little bit.

"The thing with giving chances in the IPL is you're giving very good players a second opportunity. And he cashed in. For pretty much from that moment on, he hit everything in the middle. He attacked our spin, which he played really well. So that's just a good lesson for us.

"We know that we have to be really sharp in the field. You can't afford to put chances down, and if you do, you have to expect that they're going to make you pay. There are a few reasons why we lost the game, and we'll address those and hopefully improve for our next game."

Mayers' knock meant Capitals ended up conceding 163 in the last 14 overs. Another staggering statistic was that Super Giants hit 16 sixes and just five fours in their innings. Ponting suggested that the surface in Lucknow wasn't one where 190-plus should have been scored.

"I think we conceded 16 sixes in our bowling innings. That goes to show that we were a fair bit off with our execution with our bowling," Ponting remarked. "Whenever you're giving up 16 sixes, and there's only five fours, which is quite remarkable. So, whenever you're giving up that many, it's going to be hard to drag yourself back into the game.

"Looking at the wicket today, I didn't think it was a 190-plus wicket. There was a lot of dew there. If anything, on that wicket, it was probably better for us batting second.

Ponting was also effusive in praise of Mark Wood, who rocked Capitals' batting unit, finishing with 5 for 14 from his four overs. The Capitals coach, however, suggested that the Englishman's spell wasn't totally unexpected.

"He bowled the way we thought he would bowl," Ponting said of Wood. "We know he will run in and bowl fast; we know he will run in and attack the stumps and use his bouncer. That's what he did."

"He got those couple of bowleds and used his bouncer really well. He's a world-class fast bowler. As this tournament goes on, if he stays fit, you will see him bowl some really fast spells."