Delhi Daredevils left-arm pacer Wayne Parnell today rued the team's decision to bat first against Kolkata Knight Riders, saying it is very difficult for bowlers to defend on the relatively small Feroze Shah Kotla ground here.
Opting to bat after winning the toss, Delhi posted a respectable 160 for five which KKR chased down with consummate ease in 18.2 overs for the loss of just two wickets.
Asked the reason behind the Daredevils' decision to bat first, Parnell said: "I don't know. You need to ask Gary (Kirsten)."
"But what I believe is that batting second is easier on this wicket because it is very difficult to defend here," he said after the Delhi outfit slumped to its third consecutive defeat in the seventh Indian Premier League.
With just two wins from eight games, Daredevils will certainly find it hard to make the play-offs while Kolkata continue to live on hope, prayers and more wins.
But Parnell said the Kevin Pietersen-led side is "very close" to dishing out a "perfect game".
"We are really very close to playing a perfect game. Once that happens it is going to be special. We are falling just 10-15 runs short in every game," the South African said.
"The encouraging thing for us is that we lost most of our games in the final overs. But I firmly believe that we have squad which is capable of winning rest of the matches," he said.
Daredevils have been hit hard by the poor form of its star player and captain Pietersen, who has scored just 62 runs in five matches so far in the IPL. But Parnell backed the former England batsman saying he is a "class player".
"On the field Kevin's energy is unbelievable. Yes he hasn't scored runs but Kevin is a class player and I hope he will score runs in our next game," Parnell said.
Parnell also praised KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir, who set up the foundation for the eight-wicket win with a classy 69.
"Gauti played brilliantly today. He set it up for KKR," he said.
