RCB vs DC | We deserved to lose with the way we fielded, says Rishabh Pant

Delhi Capitals weren’t quite at their best while defending their 164/5 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Dubai on Friday. The most significant blips were two dropped catches to give Glenn Maxwell reprieves, both in the same over from Axar Patel, the 14th of the innings, with Shreyas Iyer and Ravichandran Ashwin being the culprits.

Maxwell rode on his luck, and finished with an unbeaten 51 off 33, with Srikar Bharat (78* off 52) playing a starring role in a three-wicket win.

Earlier, DC were limited to 164/5 despite a fluent start from Prithvi Shaw (48) and Shikhar Dhawan (43), after being put in to bat.

Rishabh Pant rued the missed opportunities in the field, and the untimely loss of wickets as his team lost just its fourth game of the season.

"We know how important fielding is in T20s. If you field the way we did, you deserve to lose,” said Pant after the match. “We also lost too many wickets while batting. But we will have to field better next time, I guess. It was difficult for the fast bowlers with the dew, but the fielding has to support the bowling unit. We are not feeling great because you want to win these kind of matches."

Despite the defeat, DC held on to their top position in the IPL 2021 points table. They will play Chennai Super Kings in Qualifier 1 in Dubai on Sunday, October 10.