IPL 2019: Match 20, RCB vs DC - Who Said What

It was yet another bad day at the office for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The players did the usual things again on the field. The batsmen played rash shots, bowlers were ordinary and the fielders dropped catches much to the agony of the skipper Virat Kohli. The Delhi Capitals (DC), on the other hand, were clinical on the day and registered their third win of the season.

Their skipper Shreyas Iyer was phenomenal with the bat. He anchored the chase after Shikhar Dhawan got out for a golden duck. Prithvi Shaw and Colin Ingram made sure that the captain wasn’t alone in the middle. Iyer got out after playing a fine knock with on 67 with only six runs needed for a win. But the Delhi Capitals were intent on making the game interesting.

They lost three wickets for literally nothing by playing poor strokes. However, sense prevailed when Axar Patel finished the game with a boundary.

RCB lose wickets on their way to 149

The pitch wasn’t an easy one early on to bat. The RCB figured it out soon as they went about their business to get close to 160. Virat Kohli played anchor to the innings while the others batted around him going for shots. But it was senseless cricket in the last five overs when they could’ve ideally reached 170. Moeen Ali played a needless shot to get stumped off Sandeep Lamichhane and Kohli’s wicket in the 18th over left them reeling.

Kagiso Rabada picked a couple more in the same over to restrict RCB to 149/8 after 20 overs. He returned with the figures of 4/21 in his four overs and then they chased it down quite easily in the end.

Man of the Match, Kagiso Rabada said:

It has been a weird tournament for us as a team. It worked for me today and am glad. On a daily basis, you try to execute your simple skills. It is important to back yourself and I do it. I don’t see myself as a leader. If people are looking for some advice, am always there. I have a responsibility at the top of the innings and at the death.

Delhi Capitals skipper, Shreyas Iyer said:

It was tough to bat on. I decided to play positive. I did not want their bowlers to get on top of me. That was my mindset and it worked out well. I was trying to manoeuvre the ball into the gaps. I think they were 10-15 less on this track.

Our bowlers bowled really well. Especially Rabada in his last two overs. Obviously, we need to think about the areas we need to work on. It’s a big satisfaction when you win games. You get to see the smiling faces. I am doing alright as a skipper and want to maintain it.

Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper, Virat Kohli said:

We thought 160 was going to be competitive. Even 150 was about par. It was quite dry underneath and we knew it would be slow. Not as good as the last game. That was exactly the case in the first innings. We kept losing wickets at regular intervals – couldn’t really explode. Even 150 would have been difficult if we had held on to our chances.

We need to grab our chances when they come our way. We can’t keep giving excuses every game. We weren’t good enough on the day again. That’s the whole story of our season so far.

When AB got out I had to dig deep, the other guys had to strike around me, Stoinis was good, Moeen was good and Aksh too. When there are two senior batsmen and one gets out, the other has to take it deep and that the whole idea of that innings. The pitch also didn’t allow us to play freely. Understanding the situation and targeting specific bowlers, I wasn’t too happy to get out to a ball like that.

I thought if I had stayed we could have added 25-30 more to the total. In hindsight we can look at all this, but 160 was a competitive total.

When the mind is cluttered you wouldn’t be focused on the chances that come your way. Clarity of my mind is important specially if you want to take the 50-50 chances. No one keeps giving you chances in T20 cricket, we got two there – Shreyas got 65, he was on 4 when he was dropped.

That takes the game to a different level. In the end they panicked as well, 25-30 more and you never know. There is nothing more to say to the team. We have asked the guys to take responsibility. It hasn’t happened so far and that is the reality. We need to accept it.

The more we get frustrated the more it is going to get tougher. Enjoy ourselves and just play expressive cricket in the coming games. Personally, I am not trying to control the situation too much. There is a certain extent you can control, which is your own personal skill and try your effort and expect that from the team.

The key is to take it easy, relax. Whatever is front of us it is in front of us, we can’t change the situation. If we stop enjoying, rest of the games will also be suffering. We want to enjoy ourselves as a team and come out and play expressive cricket.

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