IPL 10: Match 17, Who Said What: Royal Challengers Bangalore v Rising Pune Supergiant

The second match of Super Sunday featured Royal Challengers Bangalore hosting the out of form RPS side, languishing at the bottom of the table. The RCB fell short of the required target by 27 runs. Earlier in the evening, Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to field first. The opening pair for RPS started off the proceedings with a flyer. All the top four batsmen( Rahane, Tripathi, Smith, and Dhoni) in the RPS lineup got starts but could not convert them into big ones. The turning point in their innings arrived at the 16th over. RPS were wonderfully poised at 127 for the loss of just two wickets.

Smith and Dhoni were about to explode. Dhoni looked in perfect rhythm as he deposited a ball from Chahal onto the roof of Chinnaswamy. But it all spiralled down for RPS as they lost a flurry of wickets while trying to accelerate. They lost 5 wickets for 3 runs with all their hitters back in the pavilion. However, the decisive knock in their innings came from Manoj Tiwary who scored a priceless 11-ball 27. His innings, with a match-defining strike rate of 245.45, propelled his side to an improbable 161.

All the bowlers for the RCB chipped in with vital wickets. Milne, Aravind, and Negi impressed the most with the ball. Virat Kohli and co. had their tasks cut out as they begun their chase by losing Mandeep Singh in the second over of the innings. All the batsmen got starts, but no one took the additional responsibility to finish the game for their side. Brilliant bowling from RPS didn’t help RCB’s cause either. Shardul Thakur and Ben Stokes impressed the most with the ball with able support from Unadkat and Tahir. In the end, RPS resurrected their campaign with this much needed 27-run victory over the struggling RCB side. Ben Stokes was awarded as the man of the match for taking three wickets.

Ben Stokes

The English all-rounder lauded the efforts of the bowlers for executing the set plans which prohibited the RCB batsmen from dominating. Stokes hoped that this is the start of a winning streak which would take them deep into the tournament. He also credited Dhoni for the homely support they get wherever they travel across the country.

We went into our bowling innings with an understanding of what to do. Everyone executed their plans well. We stayed away from full deliveries, tried to take the pace off and tried to keep it on a good length. I thought we were struggling a bit. The thought was that if we bowl well and executed our plans, we might have a chance. Hopefully this is the starting point for us to get a winning streak going. We’ve got some quality bowlers. Wherever we go, with Dhoni in our team, it feels like a home game. It’s a special place to come and play, the atmosphere is always really loud.

Steven Smith

The RPSG captain accepted that the team dodged a bullet by being in a commanding position and losing their way in the middle and still winning the game due to some handy runs down the order from Manoj Tiwary which changed the psyche of the team. The skipper also remarked that the team showed a lot of character to come back and win after a streak of losses.

We were probably in a pretty good position at one point, but lost our way in the middle. You don’t win a lot of games after doing that. Manoj Tiwary finished beautifully. It’s nice when those things work, sometimes they don’t. We had a lot better energy and presence. We lacked that in the previous game so nice to turn it around tonight. We’ve got some great characters and some really good players.

Virat Kohli

RCB skipper accepted that no team deserves to win matches without putting up fights. Kohli was disappointed that his team let the game drift in front of their eyes. He accepted that the better team on the day won the match. He was mighty impressed with the ‘stylish’ catch he grabbed onto while fielding in the first innings. He went ahead and affirmed that the team needs to pull their socks to avoid situations like the previous edition as those feats occur once in a blue moon. Kohli further hoped that the team makes a collective comeback and win the upcoming matches.

Not an easy thing to find momentum.We don’t deserve to win if we play like this. Honestly, last match we played really hard, today we let the game drift away in front of our eyes. If we loose without intent, it’s not a nice feeling. You can’t come out and think of swiping sides away. We need to play consistent and smart. Pune was the better team and they won. One of the best I have ever taken. reflects all of the training drills helps One of the very few positives that we can take. He bowled really well, assessed the conditions really nicely. Stepped up. He took the opportunity with both hands. Guys coming in need to step up. We can’t play with fear of failure. We can’t bowl thinking what if we leak runs, what if its is a massive mistake in sport, specially in cricket. we have to be more expressive. Last year, we had to win four out of four and we qualified. It’s not going to happen every time, so we need to pull our socks up. If you play with intent and get out or get hit, it’s fine. You can’t be switched off and let the game drift away. As professional cricketer, were franchise cricket you to do well. People expect to do well We didn’t deserve well. They have always backed us. Last year we needed their support and they were in huge numbers. We can really come back. We as players need to take more responsibility.

The RPS exchanged places with the RCB in the points table with four points in 5 matches. The RCB slid into the bottom of the table and now have only 2 points in 5 games.