Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) opener Aaron Finch lauded his team's bowlers, especially leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, for successfully defending the 164-run target against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) despite heavy dew around in Dubai for match 3rd of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 on Monday (September 21).
Chahal's outstanding spell of 3/18 saw him dismiss Manish Pandey (33), Jonny Bairstow (61) and Vijay Shankar (0) in quick succession to change the whole momentum of the game. His four-over act, combined with a very fine spell from pacer Navdeep Saini (2/25), exposed SRH's middle-order weakness and gave RCB an important 10-run win.
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"There was a huge dew. Tonight it was very heavy, the ball was like a cake of soap towards the end so that matter was a little bit tough for bowlers to execute their plans but they stuck to their tasks very well. It was a great effort from our bowlers," Finch said in the post-match press conference, as quoted by ANI.
On Chahal, Finch added, "He has practiced a lot and he is very experienced in international cricket where you are playing in a lot of conditions with heavy dew as well. He is an ultimate professional and he got the job done under pressure which was outstanding."
Finch was also all praise for his opening partner, young left-hander Devdutt Padikkal, whose innings of 56 off 42 deliveries was key to RCB posting a fighting total on the board along with another brilliant half-century (51) from AB de Villiers.
"Brilliant young player, he (Padikkal) has shown it over the last couple of years in domestic cricket, U-19 cricket, how talented he is and how destructive he could be at the top of the order," said Finch, who himself made 29 runs in a 90-run opening stand with Padikkal.
"I loved opening with him. He is such an exciting young player. My advice is to play your natural game and if you are feeling it against the particular bowler keep going. Play nice and smart, and then my role changes a little bit."
Finch also informed why Josh Philippe was seen keeping wickets for RCB instead of De Villiers, as was anticipated in the lead up to the season.
"AB is doing a lot of keeping, so as for Josh he has been practicing hard on his keeping over in the UK when he was part of the Australian tour. I think it changes from time to time and depending upon the scenario," he said.
