“No way to hide when confidence is low”: RCB skipper Faf reflects on bowling woes following SRH loss

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], April 16 (ANI): Following his side’s loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) skipper Faf Du Plessis lauded the batters for not giving up during a tough chase of 288 runs but said that bowlers giving 30-40 extra runs proved costly for the team.

A fighting half-century by Dinesh Karthik and an explosive powerplay partnership between skipper Faf Du Plessis and Virat Kohli went in vain as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) could not chase the 288-run target set by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), restricted to 262/7 in their run-chase at Bengaluru on Monday.

Speaking after the match, Faf said during the post-match presentation, “Much better (batting performance) from us; that was a proper T20 wicket. I just tried to get close in the end, but 280 was very far. It is tough. We tried a few things; we tried different things. There is no way to hide when your confidence is low. The fast bowlers found it quite difficult out there. Similar to the batting perspective, we need to work on a few areas. We need to make sure the run rate does not go down after the powerplay.”

“The guys put up their hands and never gave up (in the run chase). It was good to see the fight. Thirty to forty runs from the bowling perspective were a bit too much. It’s important to go away and freshen your mind; it’s such a mental game. Sometimes you feel like your mind is going to explode. When you get back to the contest, you have to give your full commitment,” he added.

Coming to the match, RCB put SRH to bat first after winning the toss. A 108-run partnership came between Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma (34 in 22 balls, with two fours and two sixes). Klaasen (66 in 31 balls, with two fours and seven sixes) had a 57-run partnership with Head for the second wicket and a 66-run partnership with Aiden Markram (32* in 17 balls, with two fours and two sixes). Later, a quickfire cameo by Abdul Samad (37* in 10 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) took SRH to 287/3 in their 20 overs.

Lockie Ferguson was the pick of the bowlers for RCB, with 2/52 in four overs.

In the run chase, Virat Kohli (42 in 20 balls, with six fours and two sixes) and skipper Faf Du Plessis (62 in 28 balls, with seven fours and four sixes) put up an admirable 80-run partnership within the powerplay, unfazed by the scoring rate and target.

But a brilliant spell from skipper Cummins (3/43) and Mayank Markande (2/46) reduced RCB to 122/5. Despite that, Dinesh Karthik (83 in 35 balls, with five fours and seven sixes) and Anuj Rawat (25* in 14 balls with five fours) put up a fight but fell short of 25 runs, ending at 262/7.

With this loss, RCB is at the bottom of the table, with just one win in seven overs. They have just two points. SRH now has four wins and two losses, with eight points. They are in the fourth spot.