# Sports

IPL 2020: RCB were in the game till 17th over against Mumbai Indians, says Virat Kohli

RCB were restricted to 164/6 after they collapsed from 131/3 to 139/6 between the 16th and 18th overs. Suryakumar Yadav then scored an unbeaten 79 off 43

SNS | New Delhi | October 29, 2020 10:42 am

IPL 2020: RCB were in the game till 17th over against Mumbai Indians, says Virat Kohli

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli was disappointed after losing to Mumbai Indians as felt they were in the game till the 17th over of the latter’s innings on Wednesday at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

“We were in the game until the 17th over and that was a decent effort by our bowlers. It’s basically up to the gut of the captain and the conditions, we thought Dale and Morris for initial swing, and Washy in the powerplay. We needed a few wickets there, but their batsmen did a good job,” said Kohli after the match.

Fielding first, Mumbai Indians restricted Virat Kohli’s men at 164/6, thanks to Bumrah’s brilliance. Chasing the total, it was not as smooth a ride as Mumbai would have hoped. But Suryakumar Yadav’s boisterous show with the bat had no answer from RCB.

“It was a strange phase of batting,” said Kohli of the last five overs of RCB’s innings. “Everything went to the fielders and these kind of things happen. They bowled in good areas in the last five overs and stopped us 20 runs short.”

The win also made the four times champions the first team to enter the playoffs of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Mumbai Indians continue to sit at the top of the points table with 16 points from 12 matches, while RCB remain static at second with 14 points from 12 games.

“This is always going to happen — some teams peak early and some do better later. As we can see, the teams in the lower half are turning out some really good performances now. When it’s a top-two clash, it will always be intense and in a competition like the IPL, you can’t expect any team to back down and be blown away,” said Kohli.

Suryakumar Yadav was at his lethal best as he played an unbeaten innings of 79 runs off 43 balls to help Mumbai Indians beat RCB by five wickets. His performance was preceded by a brilliant bowling display from Jasprit Bumrah (3/14).