Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Faf du Plessis admitted there is no way to hide when your confidence is low after their 25-run loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Monday. SRH posted a gargantuan score of 287 runs on the board, breaking their own record of the highest score in the IPL (277).
SRH openers – Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma – showed no respite to the RCB bowlers, tonking them for 108 runs off just 51 balls. Head was the chief destroyer as he raced to 20-ball fifty. The in-form Australian brought up his hundred off just 39 balls, which is the fourth-fastest in the IPL.
Furthermore, Heinrich Klaasen added salt to RCB’s wounds, smashing 31-ball 67. Abdul Samad added the finishing touches as he scored a blistering cameo of 10-ball 37. All the RCB bowlers conceded their runs at an economy rate of more than 10 and they had no answers to SRH’s onslaught.
On the other hand, RCB was given a decent start as Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis added 79 runs in the Powerplay overs. Post the first six overs, the hosts kept losing wickets at regular intervals, which put them under the pump. Dinesh Karthik scored a whirlwind knock of 83 off just 35 balls but he didn’t get the support from the other end.
Faf du Plessis said in the post-match presentation, “Much better (batting performance) from us, that was a proper T20 wicket. Just tried to get close in the end, but 280 was very far. It’s tough. We tried a few things, we tried different things. There’s 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.”
He added, “Need to make sure the run rate doesn’t go down after powerplay. The guys put up their hands and never gave up (in the run chase). It was good to see the fight, 30-40 runs from the bowling perspective was a bit too much. It’s important to go away and freshen your mind, it’s such a mental game. Sometimes you feel your mind is going to explode. When you get back to the contest you have to give full commitment.”
Royal Challengers Bengaluru will next take on Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday.
