AB De Villiers had an off day with the bat in hand as he just managed to score nine runs while batting against Delhi Capitals (DC). After stumbling to a 59-run defeat against Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) wicket-keeper batsman AB De Villiers admitted that the side failed to adapt in both batting and bowling.
His remark came as RCB failed to chase down 196 runs and was restricted to only 137/9. No batsmen got going for RCB and only Virat Kohli scored 43 and the others somewhat failed. AB De Villiers himself was sent back to the pavilion by pacer Anrich Nortje. For Delhi, pacer Kagiso Rabada was the pick of the bowlers as he returned with the figures of four for 24.
AB De Villiers: Credit Should Be Given To Delhi Capitals As RCB Had A Bad Day
AB De Villiers scored 9 while openers Devdutt Padikkal scored 4 and Aaron Finch scored 13. Moeen Ali scored 11 as apart from skipper Virat Kohli’s 43 none of the other could manage beyond 17. Washington Sundar was the next highest with 17.
“Yeah, I felt 196 was definitely over par. You must give credit to Delhi Capitals, they started really well in the first six overs, we did well to pull it back,” de Villiers said in the post-match press conference.
“I think Delhi batted well, as I said we pulled it back nicely and we had a chance to put pressure on them, we just did not execute really well, we dropped a few catches, there were few fumbles in the field as well and it ultimately cost us 20-30 runs which could have been a different story in the second department, but we did not bat well too, so just a bad day at the office,” he added.
In the match between RCB and Delhi Capitals, the former won the toss and opted to bowl first.
Talking about the decision to chase against Delhi, de Villiers said: “Chennai won on Sunday while chasing, even in our match against Mumbai, we got a very good total of 200+, Mumbai was very close to chasing it down. It wasn’t that dewy against Delhi Capitals, I don’t think it got wet in the second innings at all, it’s not an excuse.”
“We did not bat well and we were not able to string any partnership. We were expecting a little dew and it would have made it difficult for the Delhi bowlers. We were thinking that the dew might come in and that is why we opted to chase,” he added.
Delhi Capitals registered a total of 196/4 as opener Prithvi Shaw and Marcus Stoinis played knocks of 42 and 53 respectively. Marcus Stoinis had come to the crease with Delhi reeling at 90/3 in the 12th over — and it was then that the Australian all-rounder went on to play a whirlwind knock of 53 from just 26 balls with the help of six fours and two sixes.
AB De Villiers: Yuzvendra Chahal Is A World Class Bowler And Washington Sundar’s Bowling Is Amazing
For RCB, pacer Mohammad Siraj was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped two wickets. Both the in-form bowlers like spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and pacer Navdeep Saini had an off day for RCB. Both of them did not even complete their quota of four overs and were wicketless.
“Yuzi is a world-class bowler, he is right up there as one of the best bowlers in the tournament, we had a lot of options,” said de Villiers.
Only Washington Sundar was able to show some fight and grit with the ball as he returned with the figures of 0-20 from his four overs.
Talking about the off-spinner, AB de Villiers said: “Washington Sundar’s bowling is amazing, his bowling has come a long way since I first met him, he is very clear with his gameplan, he loves bowling with the new ball with the openers trying to take him on and he just seems to be very clear with what he is trying to achieve with the ball in hand.”
Delhi Capitals pacers Kagiso Rabada picked up 4 wickets and Anrich Nortje picked up 2 wickets while spinners Ravichandran Ashwin picked one and Axar Patel was Man of Match for figures of 2/18 off four overs.