Refusing to blame any individual, Delhi Daredevils skipper JP Duminy attributed the failure to capitalise on powerplays for his side's 13-run defeat to defending Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens here.
"There were various moments where we got things wrong, missed opportunities and that cost us. We did not lose any wickets up front but we probably did not capitalise on the powerplay as we would have liked," Duminy said on Thursday.
"We are not blaming anyone for the loss. We all could have done better, we all could have taken more responsibilities in certain areas and could have made a difference. We were 15-20 runs short in terms of capitalising the powerplay. Generally at the Eden, powerplay is the area where you try to dominate."
The skipper also rued missed chances in the field and said his bowlers were expensive in the opening and closing stages.
"We leaked too many in the first six (overs). One stage they were looking at 180 or so. We took wickets in the middle, contained them. But again in the last five overs they got 60-odd which was too much," said the South African.
The Knights scored 171/7 and then restricted Delhi to 158/6.
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Duminy also said the ploy to play four front line spinners worked to the advantage of the Knights.
Besides spin ace Sunil Narine, back in action after being cleared of suspect bowling action, the Knights played chinaman bowler Brad Hogg, offie Johan Botha and leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, who eventually ended as the man of the match returning with figures of 4/32.
Narine made a comeback into the playing eleven after missing a few matches after being called for suspect action. But Duminy asserted it did not make much of a difference for the visitors.
"I don't think one guy makes a difference. We played him well, scoring 30 runs against him is a pretty decent performance considering his record in T20 where his economy rate is under six an over. Not giving him any wickets is pretty good effort from us. Going into this game, whether Narine was playing or not, wasn't going to make a difference. I know he can be a factor but we played him well," added Duminy.
Pushed to a lowly seventh with just eight points from 11 outings, the Delhi skipper conceded that his team was "pretty much out" of reckoning for the playoffs and would now play to salvage some pride.
"We got three games to go in the tournament. We're pretty much out of it but we have a lot of pride to play for," said the South African.