Delhi coach Ricky Ponting was left furious with the Feroz Shah Kotla ground staff after they curated a pitch which rather proved useful for the visiting side, Hyderabad during their Indian T20 League clash.
Put into bat first, the home team scored a lowly 129/8 after the batsmen struggled for the grip. Captain Shreyas Iyer (43) scored the highest as Hyderabad bowlers took full advantage of the slower pitch, with the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Nabi and Siddharth Kaul scalping two wickets each.
With the bat, Jonny Bairstow and David Warner once again laid a solid foundation by playing a 64-run partnership. While Warner failed to replicate his previous numbers, Bairstow scored 48 off just 28 deliveries. Mohammad Nabi and Yusuf Pathan did the rest as Hyderabad won the game by five wickets.
Speaking to the press after the game, Delhi coach Ricky Ponting voiced his concern and said that the groundsmen made him believe this is the best-laid surface, which would suit his side.
"That wicket surprised us a lot. Talking to the groundsmen before the game, he expected it to be the best pitch among the three games played so far. But it was the worst, you saw how little it was and how slow it was,” Ponting said.
Adding further, the former Australian captain also explained how the slower nature helped Hyderabad and took Ishant Sharma and Kagiso Rabada out of the equation.
"I thought their bowlers adapted well to the conditions. They have very skilful bowlers in those conditions as they bowl knuckle balls and slower balls. We knew we needed to get off to a good start and unfortunately we didn't do that. We got some work to do. This is our home ground and we need to learn to play in these conditions better than the opposition. We definitely have to improve," he said.
"If the wickets are going to be like this, we need to think about our selection as well. Maybe our bowlers weren't best suited to that wicket. It wasn't as we expected, it wasn't what the groundsmen told us it will be.”
