Follow UsRoyal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) entered the clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) today with their Top 2 fate in their own hands, but it was a night to forget for the 2016 finalists, who capitulated and succumbed to a crushing 42-run defeat.
An unbeaten 94 from Ishan Kishan took SRH to 231, and while RCB were on track at one point, cruising at 173/3 in the 16th over, a horror collapse saw them get bowled out for 189. RCB will now have to rely on other results to finish in the top two.
It was truly a night to forget, but stand-in skipper Jitesh Sharma saw the positive side of things.
“Sometimes losing a game is a very good sign because you can check and analyse,” Jitesh said after the game.
“The positive things are that everyone's chipping in. After this loss, we've got a setback to check [things] again. We'll move forward."
RCB fell miserably short in the chase at the end, but Jitesh reckoned that his side lost the game with the ball. Jitesh reckoned that RCB ended up conceding 20-30 runs extra.
“I think it was 20-30 runs extra,” Jitesh said.
“They played very well. I didn't have any answers for their attack. We were rusty. The intensity was not there initially... In the death, we were bowling more accurately.”
Jitesh said that he did not have any update on Tim David, who blew his hamstring in the first innings and then struggled to move while batting in the chase. A static David could only manage 1 off 5 balls. Losing David for the playoffs would be a huge blow, but that looks very likely at this point.