Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli has said that it was due to “maybe a bit of nerves, maybe a bit of hesitation” that they failed to score big totals in the latter stages of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
RCB on Friday were thrashed by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator of IPL 2020 in Abu Dhabi. Hyderabad registered a comprehensive six-wicket victory to book the Qualifier 2 clash against Delhi Capitals.
“Maybe a bit of nerves, maybe a bit of hesitation, we needed to be more expressive with the bat. We didn’t have any phases in the games where we got away from the opposition. We just allowed bowlers to bowl to the areas they wanted to and didn’t put enough pressure on them,” said Kohli after their defeat to SRH on Friday at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
“In the last 2-3 games we have seen a lot of good shots going straight to the fielders. It has been a strange kind of phase in the last 4-5 games. Tonight, we just didn’t have enough on the board.”
Meanwhile, Kane Williamson was at his usual best on Friday as Sunrisers Hyderabad beat RCB in the low-scoring Eliminator to keep their campaign alive in the ongoing season of IPL.
Bowling first, Hyderabad had bundled Virat Kohli’s men for a paltry total of 131/7, thanks to Jason Holder’s 3/25. Natrajan (2/33) and Shahbaz Nadeem (1/30) also contributed to the team’s cause.
Chasing, Sunrisers Hyderabad faced a few problems at the beginning but Williamson’s (50 not-out of 44 balls) gritty knock at the middle ensured their survival. Holder (24 not-out of 20) played a crucial knock with the bat as well.
“We made a hell of a game out of it in the second half, the positions we got ourselves into in the second half, it was probably just about some better execution. It is a game of small margins and if Kane gets stuck in there, it becomes a different ball game. They put us under a lot of pressure in the first innings. Few soft dismissals, few fortunate ones for them as well and we just didn’t have enough runs on the board,” said Kohli.
It seemed RCB has tightened its grip in the contest as SRH endured a mini-collapse. After Warner, the ‘Orange Army’ went on to lose Pandey and Priyam Garg (7) within another 24 runs and were placed at 67/4 in 11.5 overs.
Williamson and Holder then took control of the proceedings, denying the RCB bowlers to make any further inroads. The duo’s brilliant batting in the middle ensured SRH crosses the line in the allotted time.