NEWS
Follow UsRoyal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Faf du Plessis admitted that the batters weren’t aggressive enough in the first innings and that played a major role in their six-wicket defeat against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on April 6 (Saturday). RCB lost only three wickets but scored 183 runs on a good Jaipur surface.
Virat Kohli crafted his eighth century but it took him 67 deliveries to get there, the joint slowest ton in IPL history. Du Plessis himself wasted 33 deliveries for his 44 runs. While Kohli went about his business at a strike rate of 156.9, the other RCB batters scored just 59 off 48 balls (SR 122.9). In response, RR got to the target with utmost ease, thanks to Jos Buttler’s 58-ball 100* and Sanju Samson’s 42-ball 69.
“I think batting out there with Virat, we found the wicket really tricky and low. We did feel 190 would be a good score. I did feel we could have maximised 10 or 15 more towards the end. It was a good toss to win, you did see that it played much nicer with the dew,” said du Plessis after RCB’s fourth defeat of the season.
“Virat was playing really well at the back end. Whether it was Virat or a Greeny or a DK coming in, we could have scored a few more. We tried, but it was quite tricky to hit. With the spinners, a lot of balls were hitting the bottom of the bat. I think the pitch definitely got better. That's what dew does, that's the nature of the wicket. I thought it was a good toss for them to win.”
Glenn Maxwell, RCB’s best bowler this season, didn’t get a single over in the second innings. RCB started well with the ball, giving away just 34 runs in the first five overs. Mayank Dagar, however, was asked to bowl the final over of the powerplay and the left-arm spinner got whacked for 20 runs. There was no stopping Buttler thereafter.
“We started well in the first four overs, then the one over from our spinner, 20 runs. It shifted the pressure back onto us. Maxwell, all the right-handers batting in the middle, that's why I went to the left-arm spinner, Mayank, who's been bowling well for us this season. And the legspinner (Himanshu), you want to use the attacking option. When we got the wicket of Jaiswal, with the two right-handers in the middle, it didn't feel like the right time to use the offspinner."
Samson heaped heavy praise on Buttler, and also said they were happy chasing anything around 190. "Anything below 190 with a little bit of dew, with the batting order we have, it was a good score to chase. (On Buttler) Just about time, if he gets through the powerplay, and if he hits it, very happy for him and very happy for the team," said Samson after RR's fourth win in a row.
Buttler was rightly named Player of the Match. The English batter, who managed scores of 11, 11 and 13 in the first three games, smacked nine fours and four maximums and brought up his sixth IPL hundred. "Had a little bit of luck, did not time it well, just got over the rope, delighted with the win," said Buttler, who got to the hundred with a match-winning six.
Talking about his poor form, Buttler said: "The mind is a powerful thing, just keep digging in, keep working hard, and you need a little bit of luck along the way. At some point, it will be okay and sometimes you have to tell yourself it will be okay. I felt good in the last game, even though I got 13. I had a really good tournament in South Africa, I just felt like I needed one innings to put that to bed."
