Delhi Daredevils’ Kagiso Rabada defends team after loss to Mumbai Indians in IPL

Delhi Daredevils may have made a mess of their chase against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday, but the spirit in the Delhi Daredevils camp is still high despite a demoralising loss. (MI v DD HIGHLIGHTS | SCORECARD)

Chasing 143 to win, Mumbai Indians bowlers restricted Delhi Daredevils to 128 for seven to win their IPL 2017 match by 14 runs.

“To be a good side, we have to back yourself at all times and have the belief (which) we certainly do. We are not going to blame anyone. What’s needed for us is to reassess. We are not out of this (IPL) for sure. I am not sure where we lie on the (points) table, but we are not out of this (tournament),” Delhi Daredevils’ IPL debutant Kagiso Rabada said.

The South African played a fighting 44-run knock and stitched together a 91-run seventh wicket stand to rescue Delhi Daredevils, who were languishing at 24/6 at one stage.

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“It’s disappointing that we are losing. But it is far from over. We don’t blame anyone in the team. Everyone has been working extremely hard. At the end of the day, we didn’t execute quite well. The numbers talk for themselves. But we have trust in our batsmen, we have some young talent. The tournament is far from over,” said Rabada.

Although Rabada didn’t find anything wrong with the pitch to bat on, the lanky pacer felt Delhi Daredevils lacked late push.

“It’s just that last push. We have been in a few tight situations. Actually, all our games have been tight, none of our games have been swinging either way. So, I think we just need to close that up. Today, our game again got close whereas it should have never been. So, we are a fighting team. We play right till the end. We always throw the first punch most of the time. It’s just about closing it up,” said Rabada.