Pune Warriors captain Yuvraj Singh has blamed his team's poor bowling, especially in the death overs, for his side's three-wicket loss to Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League in Navi Mumbai on Sunday.
IPL debutants Pune Warriors succumbed to their first defeat in the tournament after Virender Sehwag-led Daredevils chased down an imposing 187 for five with four balls to spare at the DY Patil Staduim.
David Warner (46), Virender Sehwag (37), Venugopal Rao (31) and Aaron Finch (25) chipped in with useful contributions to help Daredevils record their first victory in the tournament after two losses.
"You have to give it to Delhi. They played really well under pressure. We did not take wickets in the first six and did not bowl well in the end overs. I was thinking of spinners in the death overs but in the end your main bowlers have to bowl well. You have to give them confidence," a disappointed Yuvraj said after the match.
Yuvraj, who won the man-of-the-match award for his all-round show in Pune's losing cause, said that the game was alive when he got rid of Aaron Finch in the 19th over with Delhi still needing 21 runs from 11 balls.
"We were there in the game when Finch got out but Venugopal and Hopes batted really well. After Sehwag and David Warner gave Delhi a good start, their middle-order came out good," he added.
Delhi captain Virender Sehwag credited the elusive win to team effort.
"It's a happy moment for us as finally we secured a win. Yuvraj bowled and batted really well. It was a combined team effort and all the players chipped in with useful scores," he said.
Sehwag also justified his decision to play four fast bowlers and said he always knew that the 188-run target was chaseable.
"We knew this ground is smaller and you can hit sixes here. We thought the wicket would help the fast bowlers and so we played four fast bowlers. James Hopes did well. Venugopal Rao was brilliant," he said.
