After back to back wins, Royal Challengers Bangalore went down against struggling Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Speaking at the end of the game, RCB skipper Virat Kohli admitted that they were not as expressive in the field.
Chennai Super Kings made the run chase look like a cakewalk while many didn’t think that it would turn out to be a one-sided encounter. Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaekwad got off to a good start adding 45 runs for the first wicket. Du Plessis returned after getting a start but young Gaekwad looked completely in his elements and proved why he is so highly rated.
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He added 67 runs with Ambati Rayudu to keep Chennai in line before MS Dhoni took the side home. Ruturaj Gaekwad finished the proceedings with a six and remained unbeaten 65 runs which will give his confidence a massive boost. These two points will help Chennai Super Kings revive their confidence and give their all in the last two matches of IPL 2020.
Opting to bat first, Royal Challengers Bangalore have posted a decent total, given the pitch conditions. It was another failure for Aaron Finch, and Devdutt Paddikal threw away his wicket after getting a start too. The spinners were quite impressive in the middle overs as they didn’t let AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli take them on.
We let CSK batsmen dictate – Virat Kohli
The pair did get those odd boundaries, but the foundation of their partnership was based on singles and twos. However, it wasn’t a finish RCB would have wished for. They lost four wickets in the final 3 overs, with only 20 runs scored.
Deepak Chahar first removed de Villiers before Sam Curran dismissed Moeen Ali and Virat Kohli in the same to over to half the run-scoring spree. This turned out to be key as MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings sailed past the target quite convincingly.
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Speaking at the end of the game, Virat Kohli pointed out that the wicket got better in the second half unlike they had predicted. He also admitted that the bowlers were not much expressive and allowed the CSK batsmen to dominate which took the game away from them.
“What you saw in the second innings wasn’t a true representation of how the pitch was. They bowled stump to stump. I don’t think we got a ball to drive when we batted. Their spinners kept it tight too. 140+ is a competitive total on that pitch, we were targetting 150. I thought we still could have bowled change of pace and the odd bouncer. We weren’t expressive enough. We let batsmen dictate stuff,” Virat Kohli said.
Furthermore, Virat Kohli stated that IPL 2020 is a big tournament and teams will lose a game here and there. Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to bounce back in the coming games and look forward to making it to the playoffs.
“All sides have good players, it’s about how you come out onto the park on that particular day. We are playing really good cricket and you have to accept you will lose games here and there,” Kohli added.