Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli lauded his team’s all-around performance, especially bowlers after they thrashed Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 43rd game of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) on Wednesday (September 29) in Dubai.
RCB restricted RR to 149/9 with Harshal Patel returning brilliant figures of 3/34 and Yuzvendra Chahal and Shahbaz Ahmed each scalping two wickets. RCB then chased down the target with 17 balls left thanks to Glenn Maxwell (50*) and Srikar Bharat’s (44) brilliant performance in Dubai.
With this 7-wicket victory over RR on Wednesday, RCB strengthened their chances for the playoffs with 14 points and Kohli lauded his bowlers for their strong comeback in the last two matches in the ongoing IPL 2021 in the UAE.
Kohli said during the post-match presentation: “Couple of important things are clicking: middle-overs bowling is one. If you take wickets you can change the game. And batting also, we've got a few good opening starts. Devdutt and I have focused on giving the team good starts so that the middle-order with AB, Bharat, and Maxwell can make more. Boys have stepped up, so that's been key for us.”
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The RCB skipper added, “We have come back strongly in two games back-to-back with the ball. Which is a great sign. We know if you can hold your nerve with the ball you're going in the right direction. In both games, the opponents were 56/0 in the powerplay, but in both games, we took wickets to ensure the opposition does not get away. We knew that with the kind of bowling attack we have, things can open up when we take wickets.
As batters you can't take too many risks when you're searching for two points too, so we went to look for mistakes from their batters. Lewis hit a few sixes and it was courageous from Garton and the others. We've got the rewards because we've been fearless and confident in the moments that the game can go either way.”
The RCB didn't have a good start in the second leg of IPL 14 in the UAE but they managed to return to winning ways in the last few matches and Kohli said they are now going in the right direction.
He signed off by saying, “The break was tough as you saw initially. We were blown away in game 1. That defeat gave us confidence though. In the second game, we were not quite there either, left 25-30 out there with the bat. But last two games we are going in the right direction. Slowly but surely we are getting in the groove.”
(With ANI Inputs)
