Delhi Capitals have lost four out of their five matches so far in IPL 2024. On the other hand, LSG have won three out of their for games.

Lucknow: Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting admitted three to four overs in every game are making a difference as they aim for their second win in the ongoing Indian Premier League against Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium on Friday. Delhi Capitals sole win out of five matches in IPL 2024 so far have come against Chennai Super Kings. On the other hand, LSG have won three out of their four games so far.

While batting has come decent so far for Delhi Capitals, lack of depth in bowling has made things difficult for Rishabh Pant’s side. “Our best cricket has been really good, but three or four overs in almost every game has been the difference for us,” Ponting said on the eve of the game.

“We’ve conceded too many runs late in a couple of our bowling innings, and when we’ve had crucial run chases, we haven’t been able to quite nail them,” added the Australian. Notably, in the last two matches, Delhi Capitals have conceded more than 200 runs.

“We feel if we put 40 overs of our best cricket together, we can beat any team in the competition, and hopefully that’s tomorrow,” he added. However, Ponting is hopeful that both Kuldeep Yadav and Mukesh Kumar will be available for the game against LSG. Both Mukesh and Kuldeep missed Delhi Capitals’ last couple of games due to respective injuries.

“We’re hoping that they’ll both be available. Both those guys are obviously first picked in our starting time, so the last couple of games we sort of haven’t been able to take the part with our full-strength team. But they both trained strongly yesterday. Hopefully, we’ll keep our fingers crossed and hopefully both those guys are fit for us,” he added.

Speaking about preparedness for the LSG tie, Ponting said, “We know that we have to start playing our best cricket quickly. Our overall approach to the game hasn’t changed. We know the things we have to pay attention to, we know the strengths and the weaknesses of the opposition team. We’ve got today and then tomorrow morning to make sure that when the game starts tomorrow evening we are 100 per cent ready to go. We’ll make sure there are no surprises, and at the end of the day, we’ll make sure that we have no regrets.”