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All-rounder Vipraj Nigam assured that Delhi Capitals will try to push for a comeback and try to land a spot in the top two of the standings following their two home defeats on the trot in the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Delhi's high-flying campaign, which began at the top of the table, is now tasting the bitter taste of reality after the Capitals fell to their second straight defeat in their home den. Kolkata Knight Riders staged an inspired performance to trounce DC and keep themselves alive in the race to the playoffs with a 14-run triumph. DC was cruising in the chase with Faf du Plessis and skipper Axar Patel, who kept the defending champions at bay with their controlled aggression. The 76-run stand kept Delhi in the driver's seat, but the dynamics completely shifted in Kolkata's favour after Axar lost his precious wicket to the ever-effective Sunil Narine. Axar leaned back to clear the ball over extra-cover. The ball struck the upper half of the bat, and Harshit Rana took a clean catch to put Axar's return ticket to the dressing room on 43(23). Tristan Stubbs' stumps were rattled following his failed attempt to flick the ball away. Faf made room for himself but didn't find the desired connection and dispatched the ball straight to Rinku Singh. DC lost its middle order within three overs, and Narine had three big fish to his name. While many introspected on DC's attacking approach for Kolkata's threatening spinners, Vipraj revealed the idea was always to attack them. He felt that if the set-batters had managed to hold onto their wicket, the outcome could have fallen in Delhi's favour. "We had planned to target their main spinners. We did in their first two overs. But shot selection went wrong in a couple of moments, and we lost our set batters. It is hard to straightaway slog on such a surface against their bowling lineup. If set batters continued to play, we would have won," he told reporters in the post-match press conference. Despite the defeat, Delhi stayed in the fourth spot, but the gap with the franchises sitting outside the top four spots has now significantly reduced. Despite the rising odds, Vipraj vowed that they would try to stage a comeback and finish in the top half. "We are still in the top four, and we still have five games left. We will try to make a comeback and finish in the top two," he added. (ANI)
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