Bowling is definitely the weak link of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, and the same was evident in their outing against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Despite having the most fearsome batting line-up in the competition, the team has failed to win games consistently and that has been mainly due to their incompetent bowling.
Virat Kohli on winning the toss put the hosts into bat and that seemed to be a good toss to win. However, Kohli’s happiness was short-lived as David Warner continued his blistering form. Warner, during his knock of 92, became the leading run-getter in the tournament. Warner found great support from comeback man Kane Williamson, who had a great outing as well with his fifty.
Chasing 195 under lights is always tough, and things simply got worse for the Royal Challengers when Kohli was foxed by a slower one from Mustafizur Rahman. Barring KL Rahul’s elegant half-century, the visiting batsmen failed to get going and lost by 15 runs. In the post-match presentation, Kohli admitted that his side’s bowling was a major source of concern.
Kohli also credited Warner for his fantastic batting display. “Just not good enough on the night I reckon. SRH played very well today, despite losing Dhawan early. Full credit to them. Davey (Warner) was magnificent and Kane gave him good support. We could have stopped them to 180 after David got out even though the wicket was nice. Me getting out early didn’t help either. AB was going nicely in the middle, but we lost him at a crucial stage. So did Watto (Watson),” said Kohli.
“I’m not worried about the batting, it’s the bowling we need to work on. That’s how the game goes. Even if you smoke the ball it goes straight to the fielder and sometimes – like the other night – when I got hit-wicket and the bails didn’t fall. You need to understand the areas to work on and come out better players,” the Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper summed up.