He led an experimental combination of Delhi Daredevils that did not prove strong enough to challenge the Rising Pune Supergiants. For J. P. Duminy, the team did well to take the match to the final over after being about 20 runs short following a good start.
Speaking to media-persons late on Thursday night, the South African threw some light on the thinking behind resting Zaheer Khan, Quinton de Kock, Chris Morris and Shahbaz Nadeem.
“It was just a precautionary measure (to rest Zaheer). We’re playing a game again in two days time, and it’s the same status with Chris Morris. It’s been a long first half of the IPL so we just want to make sure that we’re keeping guys fresh. There’s a long, and very important part of the tournament to come, so we just want to make sure they’re all ready to go.”
On the combination chosen for the contest, Duminy said, “Unfortunately a few guys had to miss out because of the combination. And as a selection group, we felt that this was the best XI for the conditions and against this opposition.”
He rued the missed run-out chances in the power-play and said, “I thought we did well to take it to the last over. In hindsight, we probably were 20 runs short on that wicket with the start that we had. We were at about 107 in 13 overs, so you probably bank yourself to get to about 180. But unfortunately we lost a few wickets towards the back end of the innings which put the brakes on for us.”
Rajat Bhatia, who bowled well for Pune, agreed with Duminy and said, “They also kept losing wickets, two-three run-outs here and there and suddenly they were on the back-foot. I think they were 20 runs short – that’s what it looked like from the way they were going.”
Comments
SHARE