'I Take The Responsibility For This,' Nitish Rana After KKR's Defeat to DC
Nitish Rana (Source: AP Newsroom)
Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Nitish Rana claimed responsibility for his team's defeat to the Delhi Capitals on Thursday evening as he lamented the fact that the former champions were at least 15-20 runs short on what proved to be a very tough pitch for batting.
Batting first, the Knight Riders' got off to a horrendous start as they lost three wickets in the powerplay, including the prized scalp of their skipper, who was dismissed for a 7-ball 4 by Ishant Sharma.
KKR kept losing wickets at regular intervals, and it was only because of Andre Russell's last-over onslaught against Mukesh Kumar, that they were able to post in excess of 125 (127).
Chasing 128, Delhi started well in the powerplay, with skipper David Warner leading the way. However, the dismissal of Warner triggered a collapse as the trio of Varun Chakravarthy, Nitish himself and Anukul Roy ran through DC's middle order to set the cat among the pigeons.
Speaking to the host broadcaster, Nitish credited his bowling attack for taking the match to the final over.
"I think we were 15-20 runs short on such a difficult pitch. I take the responsibility for this, I should have stood there instead of throwing my wicket away. Credit to the bowlers though, I think the upcoming games will be good for us if we continue bowling and fighting like this. We were just trying to delay the outcome, but they (DC) played really well in the powerplay, that's where they won the game. We need to play well as a team. We need to bowl like the way we did today, if we manage to sort these things out, we can fight better I guess."
KKR have now lost three games in a row. They will next face the Chennai Super Kings at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on April 23.
 "Yash Mittal")