IPL 10: Match 33, Who Said What: Rising Pune Supergiant v Royal Challengers Bangalore

Rising Pune Supergiant looked to continue on their winning ways after a slight hiccup against Kolkata Knight Riders, as they took on a struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore side today at the MCA, Pune. Yet again, a dismal performance with the bat let the RCB side down as they almost got bowled out within 20 overs for the third successive occasion.

Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to field first. All the batsmen except Ajinkya Rahane chipped in with essential contributions with the bat for Pune. Steve Smith and Rahul Tripathi stitched an important partnership with a personal score of 45 and 37 respectively. The final flourish was provided by the usual suspects by the names of Manoj Tiwary and Mahendra Singh Dhoni who remained unbeaten on 44 and 21 duly. The duo helped their side reach a total of 157.

RCB’s reply was a one-man show as none of their batsmen except Kohli managed to reach a double digit score. Out of their total of 96, Kohli scored 55 of them with wickets falling around him almost everytime he lost the strike. Lockie Ferguson’s figure of 2/7 in his four overs would be very hard to eclipse in future. Imran Tahir broke the backbone of the RCB side with his three wickets.

In the end, it was a comprehensive victory for the RPS side with 61 runs. With this performance, RCB were knocked out from the tournament. Ferguson was adjudged as the man of the match for his miserly bowling which consisted of 18 dot balls.

Steve Smith

The RPS skipper was elated after gathering momentum into the business end of the tournament. Smith was glad about the fact that the team was able to defend their total even though they were a few runs short of the required total. He applauded the bowling effort of Ferguson who effectively bowled three maidens.

It’s nice to have got on a little streak here. We didn’t know what was a good score to be honest. It was a complete performance. Maybe we were 10-15 runs short, Bangalore have quality batsmen, but I thought the bowlers bowled beautifully. Tripathi and Tiwary are big players for us going forward. Three overs of dot balls from Ferguson. He executed exactly as we wanted him to.

Lockie Ferguson

He seconded the point made by the Pune skipper about their total. He cited that his job was made convenient after receiving the kind of start with the ball. He concluded by congratulating his teammates for the win.

We thought we were 15-20 runs short today, but the start with the ball was very good and it made my job easier. I tried to keep it as simple as possible and bowled the cutters as well. Credit to all the boys as well. I just tried to create some early pressure with AB, fortunately, it went straight to Manoj.

Virat Kohli

A visibly dejected RCB skipper said that he would take it on the chin and move forward. Kohli reiterated the fact that the team has shown a lack of intent due to their fear of failure. He concluded by saying that the RCB side would like to express themselves properly in the upcoming matches now that they know for sure they are out of the tournament.

I think it’s for everyone to see. We lost that game. It’s hard for a captain to stand here and talk when the team is performing like this. Just got take it in my stride, got to move forward and learn from these kind of games. We are trying hard, but it’s the lack of intent. Guys are fearful of getting out and failing. We lost that game rather than them winning it. We are almost not in the race for the play-offs. We just got to enjoy the remaining four games and not worry about of failing.

With this win, RPS side remains solid at the number 4 slot. They have gathered 8 points in the 8 games that they have played.