Young Delhi Daredevils batsman Rishabh Pant, who top scored with his 85 off just 48 for Delhi Daredevils in their six-wicket loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore last night has said that they were thinking of just getting the big wicket of AB de Villiers and that would've definitely sealed the game for them.
Chasing 175 on a slightly sluggish surface, RCB got the De Villiers magic on their side and simply ran away with the game. AB de Villiers got an absolutely scintillating inning of 90 in no time to give RCB their second win of the season so far.
Rishabh Pant talking about the game, said, “We were thinking about only one thing – get him out as early as possible because he was making all the difference today. He played a brilliant knock,”
Earlier in the game, Rishabh himself played one of his best knocks. He along with Shreyas Iyer resurrected DD's innings from 28-2 at the end of the powerplay to 174 after 20 overs. Rishabh got an outstanding 85 off 48 whereas Shreyas got a fine knock of 52 from just 31 balls.
Rishabh talking about the crucial partnership said, “Iyer and I thought we’ll have a partnership and take it to the end and then attack the bowlers. We planned it out perfectly, but we lost, unfortunately. He (AB) was exceptional.”
Mandeep Singh the right-hand RCB batsman too shed light on just how good AB de Villiers ' knock was. He said, “When he is batting, our job is very simple -- to rotate the strike because we know his ability. AB is AB. He does it every 3-4 games. Whenever I bat with him I try to rotate strike and give it to him. Although we have to ensure the pressure doesn’t get to him and we score whenever chances come by. But it is important to give him the strike.
“It is important to stay in the situation. I think if you see the game against Kings XI Punjab, I was tempted to hit big shots but then I made up my mind that I have stayed there for a while (with AB) and not play a super shot and get out. We just needed to build a partnership over there to win the game.”
(Inputs from Hindustan Times)
