Royal Challengers Bangalore barren run in the Indian Premier League (IPL) continues as they went down against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator 1. Virat Kohli & Co failed to defend 131 runs thanks to a brilliant partnership between Kane Williamson and Jason Holder in Abu Dhabi.
Meanwhile, Royal Challengers Bangalore played the masterstroke fielding four spinners. They did an excellent job along with Mohammed Siraj to put Virat Kohli & Co top. David Warner and Manish Pandey tried to steer the chase but a couple of timely wickets put them behind.
Sunrisers Hyderabad go one step closer to final
But it was Kane Williamson and Jason Holder, who added a brilliant partnership to take Sunrisers Hyderabad home. They added 65 runs for the fifth wicket to steer their side as RCB’s trophy cabinet continues to remain empty.
Earlier in the day, Jason Holder and Sandeep Sharma provided the perfect start. Royal Challengers Bangalore decided to open with Virat Kohli and that lasted for 1.2 overs as Holder had him strangled down the leg. Devudtti Padikkal too didn’t last long.
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Aaron Finch and AB de Villiers revived the innings but they again lost two wickets in one over as the spinner dominated the middle-overs. The onus fell on de Villiers and he tried his best to take them to a par score with a fifty but when he fell in the 18th over, RCB had to settle with a below-par total.
We failed to put runs on board – Virat Kohli
Speaking at the end of the game, RCB skipper Virat Kohli rued poor batting performance as the reason behind their defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Although the bowler bowled brilliantly to bring them back in the game, but it was short of run in the end which made the difference.
“If you talk about the first innings, I don’t think we had enough on the board already. The position we got ourselves in the second half, probably better execution…a game of margins. We just didn’t have enough runs on the board in my opinion,” Virat Kohli said.
Furthermore, Virat Kohli hailed his teammates for putting up a brilliant show especially Devdutt Padikkal. He has been magical throughout the competition piling 400+ runs and offering consistency at the top of the order.
“A couple of people have stood up and had good seasons. Devdutt, Siraj as well. Yuzi and AB have been solid as ever. Couple of positives. Devdutt has done it with class and efficiency, it’s not easy to get 400 runs,” Kohli added.
The RCB skipper signed off thanking his fans and the organisers for giving them the outstanding opportunity to be a part of the tournament and entertain the fans.
