IPL 2016: Karun Nair blames weak partnerships for loss against Rising Pune Supergiants

Delhi Daredevils batsman Karun Nair said that the inability to build partnerships resulted in the team crumbling to a defeat against the Rising Pune Supergiants on Tuesday. DD’s chances of making it to the play-offs has faced a setback after their 19-run loss against MS Dhoni's men in Vishakhapatnam.

Nair, who was the top run-scorer for DD with a 43-ball 41, said that lack of partnerships and losing wickets regularly was the reason why they could not post a competitive total.

"I think the pitch was a little two-paced but having said that we lost wickets at regular intervals. We didn't get a partnership going. If there's no partnership then it's tough to get that momentum and get runs. I think that's where we lost out, we lost wickets at wrong times," he said during the post-match press conference.

The DD batsmen failed to make a mark in what was a crucial game for the team and posted a target of a mere 123 for the opponents to chase. That was followed by a couple of disruptions due to rain, which proved advantageous to RPSG. Dhoni’s men were declared the winner as they won by D/L method after the game was called off with Pune comfortably positioned at 76/1 at the end of 11 overs.

South African wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock's early dismissal was a major hitch while other dependable batsmen like Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant gave away their wickets hastily. When DD were struggling to cross 100, Chris Morris at number seven hit 38 off 20 balls to help them post 121 on the board.

"Even though we lost early wickets we could have got partnerships in the middle. Even in the middle we lost wickets, that's why we lost out. We were at least 25 to 30 runs short. But as I said, we lost wickets at the wrong time and in regular intervals. So that pegged us back a little bit," Nair said.

The Daredevils had made a few changes to the team, roping in two seamers Nathan Coulter-Nile and Mohammed Shami, and also bringing back Shreyas Iyer for the struggling Mayank Agarwal. Though changes in the team have not yielded desired results all the time, Nair said that the team should be supportive of the decisions the management takes.

"Whatever call the team management has taken, if the call is selecting a particular team, then I think we as players should just back them and back the captain.

"I think as players we are professionals. So we have to take it as it comes and each player has to be ready to play any game," he said, adding that the changes in the team does not have an impact on individual performances.

DD, who are surprise contenders to reach the play-offs this year, have to win the next two matches by a substantial margin to seal their spot in the top four. They are currently in the sixth position, with 12 points from 12 games.