IPL 2018: 5 things that went wrong for DD in their season opener against KXIP

Delhi Daredevils managed a par score of 166/7 in their quota of 20 overs. But what they witnessed at the start of the Punjab innings knocked them out of their stride. After the initial onslaught, it was KXIP all the way after a slight slump following the wicket of KL Rahul.

Here are five things that went wrong for DD:

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Colin Munro's ineffectiveness against spin

DD had the perfect opener with Gautam Gambhir in Colin Munro, the No.1 T20I batsman and the only batsman to score three T20I centuries. He is new to Indian conditions, having played only three ODIs and three T20Is vs India last year.

He scored a half-century in the third one day and a century in the second T20I, but barring these performances, he had an average tour. It may take some time for him to adjust to the conditions in India and the format of the tournament which involves a lot of travelling and matches within small intervals. However, once he settles down, he will provide the blazing starts he is known to provide.

Below par performance from the middle order

DD will need consistency from Shreyas Iyer

The batsmen batting at the third and fourth positions are key to how the innings proceeds. Both Shreyas Iyer and Vijay Shankar, who were sent ahead of Rishabh Pant to consolidate the innings, couldn't do the job. Iyer and Shankar scored 11 and 13 respectively off as many deliveries.

Rishabh Pant scored 28 quick runs off 13 deliveries but got out in the fourteenth over. Soon after that, DD also lost the wickets of Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Tewatia in the fifteenth and sixteenth over respectively.

Not sending Chris Morris early

Chris Morris

Chris Morris is a high impact T20 player, and he is also the most under-utilised player in the IPL. He has an IPL strike rate of 165.83 after this match but has played only 281 deliveries in his IPL career consisting of 49 matches.

Even last year, the Daredevils lost a must-win match against SRH as they were unable to chase the target with Chris Morris waiting in the dugout for his chance to bat. Delhi must place more trust in his batting and provide him with the opportunity to face more deliveries.

A half-century by Karun Nair and a stable Miller-Stoinis finish

David Miller

Karun Nair, the other Karnataka lad playing for the Punjab franchise, also scored a half-century and made sure the team didn't stumble after the wickets of Rahul and Yuvraj. Nair stabilised the innings with regular boundaries even as Yuvraj (12 off 22 balls) was finding it difficult to score runs. But just after reaching the milestone, he gave away his wicket trying to up the ante.

Even after Nair got out, KXIP had the calm head of David Miller, who had able support from Marcus Stoinis. Miller and Stoinis, two players that were brought back using RTM, finished the innings which was started splendidly by KL Rahu. They comfortably finished it with seven balls to spare.

KL Rahul going berserk in the first three overs

KL Rahul scored the fastest IPL fifty off just 14 balls

KL Rahul looked in sublime touch right from the first over where he hit Boult for 6,4,4 in the last three balls. It was just the beginning of the carnage from Rahul. In the next over, Shami had to face the brunt and he conceded a six and four off consecutive deliveries. Even that was nothing compared to what the second highest wicket-taker in IPL, Amit Mishra, had to suffer.

4,6,6,4,4,0. Rahul hit 24 four runs in the third over, along the way reaching the fifty mark. However, he soon got out trying to scoop the ball over short fine leg, ending up with a leading edge that was caught by Mohammed Shami at short third man.