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After Kuldeep Yadav's two-wicket haul against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting showered praise on the 29-year-old for displaying "highest-class left-arm leg-spin" against the opponents at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
In the second inning, Kuldeep picked up two wickets and gave 25 runs in his four-over spell at an economy rate of 6.20. While batting, he scored five runs from two balls at a strike rate of 250. After the win, the head coach addressed his players in the dressing room, Ponting said he was proud of his players after they found a way to make a comeback in the match. "Bowlers, all of you at some stage today, probably with the exception of Kuldeep, were challenged. But, the thing I am most proud of was the way all of you found a way. Even if you went for a boundary early in the over, you found a way and made sure it was not a 20-run over. That's the thing that Hopesy (James Hopes) always talks about - when you are put under pressure at the start of the over, try and find a way to get out of the over. And that's the difference in all of these matches," Ponting said. He hailed Kuldeep for the way Kuldeep bowled against the Rajasthan batters. "Kuldeep, as I mentioned, he won the on-field Player of the Match award. That's the highest-class left-arm leg-spin that I have seen. The way you bowled to two very good batters, is outstanding," he added. Recapping the match, RR won the toss and opted to bowl first. Fine half-centuries from youngsters Jake Fraser McGurk (50 in 20 balls, with seven fours and three sixes) and Abhishek Porel (63 in 36 balls, with seven fours and three sixes) and an entertaining cameo by Tristan Stubbs (41 in 20 balls, with three fours and three sixes) took DC to 221/8 in their 20 overs. Ravichandran Ashwin (3/24) was the top bowler for RR. In the run chase, though RR lost their openers early, skipper Sanju Samson (86* in 46 balls, with eight fours and six sixes), Riyan Parag (27 in 22 balls, with a four and three sixes) and Shubham Dubey (25 in 12 balls with two fours and two sixes) kept RR in hunt but the dismissal of Sanju turned out to be a game changer that left RR short of a win. Kuldeep, Mukesh Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed took two wickets, while Axar Patel and Rashikh Dar Salam got one each. Kuldeep won the Player of the Match for his spell of 2/25. DC has climbed to fifth with six wins, six losses and 12 points. RR stays second with eight wins, three losses and 16 points. (ANI)
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