“We were 20 runs shy of good score”: RCB captain Faf du Plessis after defeat to Rajasthan in Eliminator

Ahmedabad [Gujarat], May 23 (ANI): After a gut-wrenching defeat in the IPL 2024 Eliminator, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain Faf du Plessis feels that his side needed to push more for a few runs to make it a competitive total.

However, he lauded the RCB for fighting till the end against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the knockout match.

RCB’s hopes of winning the elusive IPL trophy came to an end on Wednesday as they were knocked out of the IPL 2024 after losing to RR in Eliminator at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

On the contrary, the brilliant all-round performance helped RR win by four wickets against RCB in the Eliminator to seal their place in Qualifier 2, where they face Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Chennai.

The RCB captain du Plessis said that with the dew coming in, they were a few runs short however credited his side for fighting till the end. Whenever RCB showed that promise, RR’s bowlers would come into the mix and pick up a wicket to dent their momentum.

“With the dew coming, we felt we were short with the bat. Did think we were 20 runs shy of what was a good score. Credit to the boys – they fought really well. That’s all you can ask for. If you look at naturally assessing the pitch and conditions, you would say it’s a 180 pitch because it was swinging upfront and was quite slow,” Faf du Plessis said in a post-match presentation.

The RCB opener reckoned that with the Impact Player and the dew factor, what used to be a par score earlier isn’t par anymore.

The captain further stated that when you win only one of your first eight games, the wheels would have fallen off for most teams, but his team did well to win six on the trot. RCB’s remarkable run — a six-match winning run — came to a wretched fate as the du Plessis-led side were not able to gain the same momentum in the Eliminator of the tournament.

“But what we’ve found out this season, with the impact player, the par score isn’t enough any more. Also with the dew coming in. Extremely proud. A lot of teams – their wheels would’ve fallen off after 1 from 9,” he added.

Du Plessis said he is proud of the way his team showed great character, and it is not easy to win six on the bounce.

“To come back like that, six games in a row, takes a lot of heart and character. We weren’t special tonight in terms of pushing that extra 20 runs with the bat,” the RCB captain added.

Coming to the match, RR won the toss and chose to bowl first. RCB’s innings showed promise for a bigger total as numerous batters got off to starts but none converted them into a big score and posted a total of 172/8. While in the chase of 173, RR reached home in 19 overs with Yashasvi Jaiswal top-scoring with 45 and Riyan Parag playing a crucial knock of 36.