Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Faf du Plessis admitted they could have added 10-15 runs against Rajasthan Royals after their six-wicket loss at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur on Saturday. RCB posted 183 runs on the board after they were put into bat by RR skipper Sanju Samson.
RCB talismanic batter Virat Kohli scored a majestic knock of 113 runs off just 72 balls with the help of a dozen fours and four sixes. Kohli scored his eighth century of the IPL as he continued his rich form.
Kohli added 125 runs with his opening partner Faf du Plessis but RCB failed to finish their innings on a high. After Faf was dismissed by former RCB spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, none of the other batters could provide support to Kohli. The RCB skipper admitted that batting got easier in the second innings with dew coming in.
Meanwhile, Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed on a duck but Jos Buttler got back into form, scoring his sixth IPL hundred. The English batter scored an unbeaten knock of 100 runs off just 58 balls whereas RR captain Sanju Samson scored 69 runs from 42 balls. Buttler and Samson added 148 runs for the second wicket as both the batters batted at the top of their game.
Buttler took the attack to Mayank Dagar in the last over of the Powerplay, smashing the left-arm orthodox spinner for 20 runs, including three fours and one six. Faf admitted that over took the game away from them and put them under pressure.
Faf du Plessis said in the post-match presentation, “I think we found the wicket tricky in the first innings. I thought 190 was a good score, think we could have added 10-15 runs max. Their spinners bowled well (in the middle overs), good decision by them to bowl first. With the dew batting got easier. Virat was playing well at the back end, with someone like Green coming in, you want to maximise those last overs.”
He added, “We tried to squeeze as hard as we can, but it was tricky to hit against the spinners. It was easier to hit the seamers. The pitch definitely got better, you could feel it, the ball was skidding along nicely. We were excellent in the first four overs. I think that 20 runs over (from Dagar) took the momentum away and shifted the pressure back on us.”
Royal Challengers Bengaluru will next take on Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Thursday.
