IPL 2020: Virat Kohli rues poor Royal Challengers Bangalore batting

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli blamed his side’s inconsistent batting for their exit from the IPL 2020 at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad. In the Eliminator, Sunrisers captain David Warner won the toss and expecting dew later in the day, sent the Royal Challengers Bangalore in to bat. But the Kohli-led side could only […]
 
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IPL 2020: Virat Kohli rues poor Royal Challengers Bangalore batting

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli blamed his side’s inconsistent batting for their exit from the IPL 2020 at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad.

In the Eliminator, Sunrisers captain David Warner won the toss and expecting dew later in the day, sent the Royal Challengers Bangalore in to bat. But the Kohli-led side could only muster 131 for 7 in their 20 overs with ‘Mr 360’ AB de Villiers the only batsman to reach the half-century mark.

“We need to be more expressive with the bat. We didn’t probably have any phases in the game where we got away from the opposition,” Virat Kohli said in the post-match press conference. “We just allowed bowlers to bowl in the areas they wanted to and didn’t put them under enough pressure I believe. If you look at our last three-four games, we’ve hit a lot of fielders as well. A lot of good shots going to the fielders. It’s been a strange kind of phase of four-five games for us. Tonight, just didn’t have enough on the board,” he added.

What looked like an easy chase on paper turned out to be quite a nervy affair for Sunrisers Hyderabad. With the dew giving the match a miss, the Royal Challengers Bangalore spinners came into the game. Both leggies – Adam Zampa and Yuzvendra Chahal – bowled tight spells to take the game to the final over. However, the experience of Kiwi Kane Williamson (50 Not Out) and West Indian all-rounder Jason Holder (24 Not Out) proved to be the difference as the boys from Hyderabad won by 6 wickets with 2 balls to spare.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore did have one opportunity, though, to dismiss Kane Williamson, when Devdutt Padikkal at the deep square leg boundary parried the ball back into play in the 18th over. But unfortunately for Virat Kohli and his team, Padikkal couldn’t come back inside in time to catch it.

IPL 2020: Virat Kohli rues poor Royal Challengers Bangalore batting

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Reacting to that missed chance, Kohli said, “We made one hell of a game out of it in the second half, and the position we got ourselves into in the second half – probably with a better execution… it’s a game of margins and if Kane is taken there it’s a different game altogether. But they put us under a lot of pressure in the first innings. A few soft dismissals, a few fortunate ones for them as well.”

Our batting ran out of steam heading into the last few games of IPL 2020: Simon Katich

“We felt like we were on track at the 10-games mark, and then heading into the last four games… looking back on it now, it feels like we probably ran out of a bit steam,” Katich said at the post-match press conference. “Particularly with the bat. That’s probably the one area that faded a bit after a really good start to the tournament. To stack our batting today and only get 130 was disappointing. Sunrisers thoroughly deserved to go through.”

While they couldn’t win the IPL 2020 trophy, the Royal Challengers Bangalore coach Simon Katich feels there’s hope for the future for the Virat Kohli-led side.

“While we fell away (at) the back end of the tournament, I think throughout, we felt like we made some strides on the previous couple of years,” he said. “Plenty of positives in IPL 2020, certainly not all doom and gloom. We’ve got to make sure that we’ve learned from this experience. Tonight’s a great lesson for our younger guys, to experience the pressure cooker of the playoffs. Obviously didn’t go to plan tonight, hopefully that lesson and experience will hold them in good stead in years to come.”

The Sunrisers Hyderabad will now play the Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2 of the IPL 2020 on November 8.

Featured Image: Twitter/IPL