Ricky Ponting and David Warner under fire from cricket fans in IPL shocker

Fans of the Delhi Capitals have let rip at Aussie coach Ricky Ponting and captain David Warner after the team once again lost to leave them dwindling at the bottom of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Capitals are sitting 10th on the ladder and have faced a difficult season with Ponting as coach and Warner under fore for his form as captain.

And in a game they desperately needed two points to give them a glimmer of hope to make the playoffs, the Capitals lost by 27 runs as they couldn't chase down the Chennai Super Kings' total of 5-167. To make matters worse, pressure is mounting on captain Warner who was out for a duck.

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The Kings batted first and were held to a modest score of 167 runs after six batters managed to score in the 20s, but no one able to go on with their innings. MS Dohni managed to blast 20 off nine balls to finish the innings to prompt a tricky run-chase for the Capitals.

However, things got off to a woeful start when Warner was dismissed for a duck after two balls when he was caught off Deepak Chahar's bowling. Aussie allrounder Mitchell Marsh was then run out after a horrible mix-up, which left him stranded in the middle of the pitch.

Manish Pandey and Rilee Rossouw restored the middle order with a quick-fire 59-run partnership. Indian star Axar Patel came in at No.7 and smashed 21 off 12 balls, but it wasn't enough as the Capitals fell well short in a devastating blow for the franchise.

Ponting was impressed with his bowling line-up for the match, but lamented the batting performance when chasing a modest target. The Aussie cricket icon has opted to play the majority of the overseas players at the top of the batting order in recent games to try and turn around their poor starts to the innings.

"We lost two early, then we lost three early and then the spinners came on," Ponting said in his post-match press conference. "There was about 34 dot balls in the middle of the game...you are never going to win chasing a score if there is that many dot balls.

"I think that is the fifth, sixth, seventh time this season where we have lost a wicket in the first over of the game. That is clearly an area we haven't got right...it is pretty obvious where the game was lost."

Ponting said the batting line-up has changed a lot in order to find the right mix and that has included using the Indian players in the middle part of the order. However, having most likely missed out on the playoffs, fans have swiftly turned on the leaders of the group.

Many have questioned the tactics of Ponting and Warner of using Patel so far down the order. With the top order of the batting line-up misfiring and Warner's struggles to score at a quick rate, some fans have called for change.

David Warner addresses Delhi Capitals woes

The Australian opener was critical of the team's batting performance and reitereated Ponting's point that the early wickets haven't helped the team in 2023. “Losing three wickets (in the powerplay lost it for us). This is the fifth or sixth time we have lost a wicket in the first over," Warner said after the match.

"And it was us throwing our wickets away. The run-out. That was a very gettable total. We just have to start well and have one of our batters bat long.

“Then there were four overs in the middle overs when we couldn’t even rotate the strike. You can be conservative, but when you hit a wide half-tracker to cover... It was there to be hit. If good balls get you out, it is different. We just need to hit those wide half-trackers better,” Warner added.

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