Desperate Delhi need to get that winning feeling again, says Plunkett

Delhi Daredevils are a disappointed lot. They have now lost five out of six matches and are at the bottom of the table. Liam Plunkett admitted they should have won the contest against Kings XI Punjab on Tuesday, but felt they were just a win away from getting the balling rolling.

In his debut IPL outing, Plunkett returned with impressive figures of 3/17 in four overs, and played a crucial role in containing Kings XI to 143/8. However, Daredevils’ batting failed to click and they lost by four runs despite Shreyas Iyer’s gallant 45-ball 57.

Plunkett, who came in as a replacement for the injured Kagiso Rabada, said though the team was hurting, they were not desperate. “You can’t cower away to a corner. We feel like we can win, just need to get that win and get the ball rolling, learn how to win,” he said.

“That’s what we didn’t do tonight, we should have learnt from the way we bowled and played a bit different. Once you win one, you learn how to win the tight situations. We should have won that game.”

Plunkett, though, was delighted with his performance. “It was a great feeling to finally get a game in the IPL. I wanted to perform well for the side and I am extremely happy that I was able to take crucial wickets on my debut in the competition.”

“From the beginning, we knew the wicket will assist bowlers and this was really similar to the turf I played on during the 2016 ICC World T20.”

Andrew Tye, whose 2/25 played a part in Kings XI’s victory, said losing the toss proved to be a blessing in disguise. “We got a good view of what their bowlers had done. Especially their fast bowlers, and how the wicket reacted,” said Tye who broke the crucial partnership between Iyer and Rahil Tewatia.

“Coming here, we weren’t quite sure what the wicket was going to be like. Even looking at it, you couldn’t quite tell. It was a blessing in disguise to be bowling second, to see how they bowled. The pitch created a fiercely competitive game between the two sides, so it was good. They played the extra bowler today with Liam Plunkett coming in and doing well. We were probably a bowler short, but we won.”