IPL 10: Match 31, Who Said What: Royal Challengers Bangalore v Gujarat Lions

It was another dismal show from the Royal Challengers Bangalore as they faced defeat yet again, this time at the hands of Gujarat Lions. The batting unit failed collectively much like their nightmare at the Eden Gardens, as they could only manage a total of 134.

Only Kedar Jadhav dazzled for a while with his 18-ball 31. Pawan Negi provided some sort of entertainment for the Royal Challengers fans in the ground with his 19-ball 32. Andrew Tye was the pick of the bowlers yet again as he threatened to pick up his second hat trick in the season.

Tye picked up 3 wickets by conceding only 12 runs. His spell contained as many as 13 dot balls, which dented the home team massively. He was ably supported by Ravindra Jadeja who picked up a couple of wickets.

Chasing a paltry total of 134, the Lions came out all guns blazing with Aaron Finch who hit a 34-ball 72 at an explosive strike of 211. He hit 6 sixes and five boundaries in the process. The finishing touch was provided by their skipper Suresh Raina who scored a handy 34, thereby picking up the Orange Cap.

In the end, it was a comfortable victory for the Gujarat Lions who won the encounter with 7 wickets and 37 balls to spare. Andrew Tye was adjudged as the man of the match for his match-winning spell.

Andrew Tye

The fast bowler from Perth impressed yet again with his skills with the ball as he was on the verge of claiming another hat-trick. He was also glad their plans were executed perfectly. Tye also had few words for his Indian bowling partners Basil Thampi and Nathu Singh, who he believes belong to this level.

He concluded by saying that he’s loving the thrills and grills of the IPL despite its hectic schedule.

Execution of the hat-trick ball wasn’t as good as last time. We were desperate for the win. Glad that we got the result tonight. Keeps us alive in the competition. The plan was to hit a good length against Gayle. It was the back end of the powerplay and I knew he would look to hit soon. I was just lucky I got it in the right spot. It was a pretty good wicket. We had expected it to break up a little bit. But it was a high class wicket, had something in it for the pacers. Suited our attack tonight. Nathu showed the other day that he certainly belongs at this level. Him and Basil have bright futures. Pretty hectic schedule this year, but the fans here are unbelievable. They just love cricket and India is always a special place to play cricket.

Suresh Raina

An elated Lions captain was relieved to put their IPL campaign back on track with another win. Raina credited all the bowlers who effected another batting collapse and also the batters who gave exceptional starts. However, Raina still believes that bowling can get only better from here on.

We have done really well in all departments. AJ, Faulkner and Jadeja bowled really well. Baz and Kishan started well, and then Finchy batted beautifully. Wicket was doing something with the new ball. Team effort today. Basil and Nathu were very accurate. Very happy today. He was telling me to just stay there. We haven’t done well in bowling department, we can still improve. The combination was brilliant today. Smith is a team player, he’s done well for us. Jimmy and AJ they played very well for couple of years in the IPL. This win will give us a lot of confidence moving forward.

Virat Kohli

A disappointed Virat Kohli emphasised on the fact that the team has displayed a lack of intent in the past couple of games. Kohli remarked that the team is putting too much pressure on themselves. However, he only hoped that they can repeat their heroics from the past season to go deep into the tournament.

It is never easy to lose games. Especially, when you have a lack of intent and you lose games, it is not easy. Last two games we have lost like that. Still, five games to go. If we turn things, we can get some momentum in the later stages of the tournament. Tonight we were not clinical. You have to come out and play with intent. You need some luck going your way. The only way you can come out of it is by playing positive cricket. The guys were hesitant in trying to do different things on the field. I feel that should not never be the case. We should enjoy the tournament.

Kohli stated vehemently that the boys need to take more responsibility. The skipper also expected that pitch would slow down more but in the end, he misread the pitch altogether. He concluding by lauding the efforts of Aaron Finch who took the game away from them.

We are putting too much of pressure on ourselves as a team. Individuals have to take responsibility. It should not be the same two-three guys performing all the time. Hopefully, we can string some strong performances in the upcoming games and turn it around. It was coming on decently well. I thought it would be slow. Under lights, it is a different perspective altogether. During the Mumbai game, in the day time, it was slow. Credit to Finch, he played a fantastic knock. In a small chase, it is important for one guy to step up and he did. Credit to him for taking his team through. He did not give us any chance of coming back into the game.

With this huge win, Gujarat Lions move onto the 6th position with 6 points in 8 games and also reduce their deficit in the net run rate column. On the contrary, RCB’s hopes to progress into the playoffs has hit a massive dent as the languish at the bottom of the table with only 5 points in 9 games.