Virat Kohli Blames Bowling Failure In Powerplay After Seventh Defeat For RCB In IPL 2019
Apr 16, 2019 at 12:03 AM
The chances of Royal Challenges Bangalore crashing out of IPL 2019 increased manifold as Mumbai Indians successfully chased down 172 at Wankhede Stadium.
They (RCB) now just have 1 win in eight matches and another defeat will mark an end to their IPL tourney.
Mumbai Indians did fumble in the chase to the target but in the end, they did the job to register their fifth win.
The home side had the best of the starts with openers Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock sharing 70 runs for the first wicket in 7.1 overs.
Middle-order batsmen Suryakumar Yadav (29 off 23) and Ishan Kishan (21 off 9) also had good starts but they could not do the finishing job.
MI’s struggles were on display during the chase but in the end, they prevailed and chased down the target successfully.
RCB skipper Virat Kohli blamed bowlers for conceding too many runs in first six overs and said that it ‘s difficult to make a comeback from that stage.
Mumbai Indians scored 67 runs in first six overs.
“We played a pretty good game I guess. I think with the ball in the first six overs we were not right up there. Conceding 65 in six, it was always difficult to come back from that. We had to take a chance with the spinner at the end with two right-handers in. (On Moeen) He is striking the ball so well and he’s bowling with a lot of heart and determination. It’s good to see a senior player in the team taking responsibility. He deserves all the credit for his performances. We just have to enjoy ourselves, play the way we did in the last two games and try to show more composure in those pressure situations. Take those half-chances. The catch that went down off Hardik could have been a game-changer,” he said in the post-match presser.
Earlier, Royal Challengers Bangalore did not have a great start after being asked to bat first as Virat Kohli was dismissed on the first delivery of third over off Jason Behrendorff.
Parthiv Patel did spend some time out in the middle but could manage 28 off 20.
AB de Villiers stayed there for long and with a knock of 75 off 51, he steered the team to a defendable total.
His innings came to a strange end as he was out of the crease in the final over the match when he was king for a second run.
Moeen Ali also had a crucial role in RCB’s batting.
He scored 50 off32 that included five sixes and one four.
Apart from that, England all-rounder also scalped wickets.
The scored could have gone past 180 but Lasith Malinga only gave nine runs in the final over.
The visitors also lost three wickets in the final over.