Sharjah, Nov 1: “We weren’t brave enough with the bat,” said a disappointed Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli after his side’s five-wicket defeat at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad in an Indian Premier League match here.
Kohli said Saturday’s defeat has virtually made their last game against Delhi Capitals on Monday a must-win for a top-two finish in the standings.
RCB only managed 120 for seven after being put in to bat. SRH chased down the target in 14.1 overs to zoom to fourth spot from seventh in the league standings.
It was RCB’s third consecutive defeat in the tournament but they stayed at second place in the table with 14 points from 13 games.
“It was never enough. We thought 140 might be a good total to sort of get into the game on that kind of wicket. We weren’t brave enough with the bat throughout the innings and credit to them (SRH) – they used the pitch well and the change of pace,” Kohli said after the match.
“It is a competitive tournament and you can’t take any games lightly or any teams for granted, the situation is in front of us – we have to win our last game to hopefully finish in the top two.”
Kohli said Monday’s game against Delhi Capitals in Abu Dhabi would be a cracker with both the teams locked at 14 points.
“I have always been a Bangalore boy in the IPL, never sort of drifted towards Delhi,” Kohli said.
Kohli said dew played an important role in the second innings.
“Things changed drastically in the second innings. There was a lot of dew which we didn’t quite predict. They got it right at the toss eventually. In the end it was very difficult to hold the ball.
“Strange one. In between we thought the weather has become pleasant and there wasn’t any dew, but last few games in Dubai and here as well there has been dew. The pattern keeps changing but regardless (of that) you need to have runs on the board.”
SRH now have 12 points from 13 games and need to win their last league game against table-toppers Mumbai Indians to stay in the hunt.
Their captain David Warner said SRH’s goal was clear coming into the match — win the last two games and progress into the play-offs.
“We knew we had to beat the top two teams in order to progress. We got one more to go against Mumbai. Losing Vijay (Shankar) is a big miss. For us we have worked out, how to go about at the top of the order.
“With the bowling, all the credit goes to them. We are finding the right balance and the right partnerships. To go for less than 20 in 4 overs, it’s ridiculous,” he said.
“We knew we had to win today, and that’s the case in the next game. In 2016 we had to win three games and we did that.” (AGENCIES)
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