Delhi Daredevils were once again guilty of an uneven bowling pattern and giving away runs when in patches instead of building on momentum. Against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens on Monday, DD lost by 71 runs with KKR scoring 200/9 when the number could have been lesser. In the three matches played so far by Delhi Daredevils, the powerplay overs have been a significant factor. In the powerplay overs, the Gautam Gambhir-captained side have been pounded to 30 fours and 14 sixes. This translates into an economy rate of 10.75.

Delhi Daredevils began their season by seeing KL Rahul thrash the bowlers around for fastest fifty in just 14 balls. Then, they gave away 84 runs in 36 balls to Mumbai Indians’ Evin Lewis and Suryakumar Yadav. On Monday at the Eden Gardens, DD kept Chris Lynn in check, and dismissed Sunil Narine cheaply, and yet things didn’t go as they would have hoped. From 19 runs off four overs, KKR finished the powerplay with 50 runs for 31 runs in two overs.

That’s something we need to address, and address very quickly,” assistant coach Sridharan Sriram said. “Against Kings XI, Rahul ran away, playing a blistering innings. Against Rajasthan, we were good. But in the last game we conceded 84 and today they were 19 off four [overs] and finished 50 off six..