NEWS
Follow UsIt was a game of two halves - Royal Challengers Bangalore struggled at one end and Delhi Capitals made it look all easy at the other. After winning the toss, RCB’s skipper Faf du Plessis did not hesitate one bit, saying that his side would love to bat first. Thus far, batting in the second innings here in Delhi has looked like a tough task.
After an 82-run opening stand between du Plessis and Virat Kohli, Delhi managed to get the other dangerous all-rounder, Glenn Maxwell the very first delivery. Despite a cameo from Mahipal Lomror, who scored a 29-ball 54, Bangalore could only get to a total of 181, which looked par at that point.
RCB’s skipper du Plessis also admitted in the post-match presentation that a score of 185 was pretty good. But at the same time, with dew playing a huge role, Faf regretted that his spin bowlers could not play a huge role in the clash.
“I felt it was pretty close, I thought 185 was a pretty good score. The dew took the spinners out of the game, but credit to them (DC batters) as well. You like your spinners in the game, but you need to bowl in the right areas despite the dew. A few bad balls and a few mistakes, we were short, but yeah, they really batted well,” Faf admitted in the post-match presentation.
But at the same time, the Proteas batter also insisted that the batting unit didn’t maximise towards the end, where they could have easily scored 200 and put scoreboard pressure on the Capitals. Du Plessis also spoke about the decision to send Maxwell at No.3, instead of No.4, given that they were in a pretty good position.
“We didn't maximise towards the end. We felt like 185 was a par score, we needed one big over that could take us to 200, that would have made a difference. But that's what happens when you apply pressure. Maxi (Maxwell) has been going well for us at 4. We thought we could have him early (at no.3 ) because he is going well,” he added.
Du Plessis also had special praise for Lomror, who almost took Bangalore out of jail.
“I was really pleased to see Lomror at 5 and he played really well, still really a good positive for him. That's the nature of the slow pitch, you always try to come in the first six overs and try to get on top of the game,” Faf reckoned.
It wasn’t just the Proteas batter who believed that his side had a par score on board, with opposition skipper David Warner too admitting that it was a ‘par score’ and reckoned that if not for Phil Salt’s intent, it could have been a trouble for them.
“Amazing. I thought it was a par score, the ball was skidding. But the way we came out led by Phil Salt paved the way. Our intention was to take on Siraj, he's been bowling well and taking wickets early. His wickets have been bowled or LBW so we wanted to drag his length back,” Warner said in the post-match presentation.
Despite conceding 181, Warner praised his bowling unit, and reckoned that veteran Ishant Sharma has been a major force. With back-to-back games against four-time IPL champions, CSK, Warner opined that it is all about ‘momentum’.
“Credit to the way the bowlers bowled, Anrich is not there but Ishant is leading the pack with Khaleel. And Kuldeep and Axar as well have been brilliant. It is all about momentum, we are finding the right balance at the right time. Now we go to Chennai and try to get a performance there, I know it will be tough,” he concluded.
