‘It took away momentum’: RCB skipper Faf du Plessis points out reason behind defeat

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Faf Du Plessis says after six-wicket loss to Rajasthan Royals in Indian Premier League (IPL) Team back, the wicket was tricky in the first innings and later became better due to dew batting. Virat Kohli’s blitzkrieg century went in vain as Jos Buttler’s thunderous hundred lit up the Sawai Mansing Stadium to give Rajasthan Royals (RR) a six-wicket win on Saturday , defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

In his post-match speech after the game, Plessis said: “I thought we found the wickets tricky in the first innings. I thought 190 was a good score and thought we could have added 10-15 runs at most. They The spinners played well (in the middle overs) and good decision by them to bowl first. With dew, batting became easier. Virat bowled well at the back end, with the likes of Cameron Green The guys come in and you want to maximize the final over. We tried squeezing as hard as possible, but hitting the spinners was tricky. It was easier to hit the seamers. The pitch got better, you could feel it, and the ball Sliding good. We had a good four-round performance in the first game.”

The skipper conceded that spinner Mayank Dagar’s score was RR’s sixth in a run-chasing run that resulted in RR losing 22 runs after an early wicket, shifting the momentum to RR. He also explained the reason for not handing the ball to Maxwell, RCB’s highest wicket-taker bowler in this tournament with four scalps.

“I think 20 over (from Duggal) took away the momentum and shifted the pressure back on us. Maxwell wasn’t bowling because all the right-hand bowlers were batting, so it was towards the left-handers at the start. There were two right-handers The bowler “is at the crease, goes to the left-arm spinner and then gets the leg-spinner (Himanshu Sharma) involved in the attack. There was no point in defending, we needed wickets,” Plessis said.

“When we took Jaiswal off, I felt there was no need to go to Maxwell. Fielding was average and it’s something we’ve talked about and we’ll work on it and try to improve. Don’t worry about catching the ball and just be there. Showing intensity,” he concluded.

The match started with RR putting RCB first. Despite skipper Faf Du Plessis (44 off 33 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes) and Virat Kohli (113* off 72 balls with 12 fours and 4 sixes) The opening partnership scored 125 runs but RCB failed to fine the board total and were 183/3 in 20 overs.

Yuzvendra Chahal (2/34) is the pick of the bowlers for RR. Nand Berg also took a wicket.

In the run chase, RR did lose Yashasvi Jaiswal for a duck. But captain Sanju Samson (69 off 42 balls, including 8 fours and 2 sixes) and Jos Buttler (100* in 58 balls, including 9 four balls and four sixes), the latter returned to form with a century in his 100th IPL match. Despite some quick wickets later on, RR tied the total with five balls and six wickets in hand.

Reece Topley (2/27) is the bowler for RCB. Yash Dayal and Mohammad Siraj took one wicket each but it was not enough.

Butler won the “Man of the Match” award.

RR are at the top of the table with four wins from four games which has taken them to eight points. RCB are victorious in five matches and are in eighth place with just two points.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)