EXCLUSIVE
Follow UsDespite putting up 205 on the board, thanks to brilliant knocks from Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) went down against an aggressive Punjab Kings (PBKS) side on Sunday (March 27) at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai.
Mohammed Siraj conceded 59 runs from his four overs, with Odean Smith taking a special liking to him as the West Indies all-rounder smashed him for 25 in an over to tilt the match in his side’s favour. While Harshal Patel did alright with figures of 1 for 36, the others took a pounding.
Former Australia and Netherlands fast bowler Dirk Nannes believes 205 was a winnable total, but poor execution from the RCB bowlers let the team down.
“205 on the board is plenty. The bowling is just off. The lack of being able to defend is really the problem. Tactically they weren't far off. Field placements were okay, just the execution with the ball was poor,” Nannes said on Cricket.com’s Match Review.
“Drop catches hurt. But more broadly, it was the poor execution with the ball. Let's not take too much away from Punjab Kings. They batted really well, put away bad balls. Odean Smith after going for 52 with the ball came back with a blistering 25 off 8 balls, smashed it to all parts. There were some really good positives for the Punjab Kings but I don't believe they should have been allowed to get that close.”
While Nannes believes PBKS have made an excellent statement, their bowling does not give him confidence.
“It's an outstanding statement. To also think they have got players still to come in. I don't think yet they are a force necessarily. I love Arshdeep with the ball, Rahul Chahar was excellent with the ball and so was Harpreet Brar. I still think there are question marks around their bowling,” Nannes said.
Nannes also believes RCB did not get it tactically wrong, but once again pinned it on the execution.
“Don't think the powerplay was where the game was won or lost for either team. The spin was okay, but Siraj going for 59, you don't expect that. He bowled nine dot balls, which means from 15 balls he went for 59 runs. That is remarkable,” Nannes who has played 15 T20Is for Australia and two for the Dutch side, said.
“He is getting smashed around the park and not getting hit for ones and twos like he would want a bowler to get hit for. He is getting planted over the fence and that's a big problem. That's just an execution thing. Again, we go back to the lengths they were bowling and you can't set fields for that.
“Tactically, I don't think we can pin anything on Faf. I thought he captained pretty well, he batted outstandingly, he took directions very well from DK and Virat.”
Nannes was also impressed with the way Bhanuka Rajapaksa played on his IPL debut. Rajapaksa smashed 43 off just 22 deliveries, which included two fours and four sixes.
“Rajapaksa played a surprising role. He's kind of a weird one to watch because he never really gets himself into a good position when he plays his shots. It looks like he never really nails the ball, but they are going 10 rows back over the fence and you can't work out why. He is a really interesting player to watch and go about his work,” the former pacer said.
RCB managed just 41 runs in the powerplay, but Nannes does not think that was the reason behind RCB’s loss as the PBKS bowlers were on the money during that period.
“I don't think you can take too much away from the opening bowling of Punjab,” Nannes said.
“They were swinging the ball massively. I was really excited to see, particularly Arshdeep, he was swinging the ball a mile, but not particularly accurate with it. But that was hard to come out and try and counter that, be aggressive and keep wickets.
“I wasn't too fussed with that. At one stage Faf was 17 off 25 or something and then scored 39 off the next 11 balls. That was a pretty massive change in momentum. You can't get 205 and think we left a few out there. 205 should win all the time.
“I also think Mayank got it right by winning the toss and choosing to bowl first because it did seem to be a little easier later on in the night. Faf and Virat put on a fantastic night and DK coming in late and just being able to go from ball one is sort of a role you expect out of a Maxwell.”
Both RCB and PBKS take on Kolkata Knight Riders next. While RCB play them on Wednesday (March 30) at the DY Patil Stadium, PBKS will take on them on Friday (April 1) at the Wankhede Stadium.
