Virat Kohli unveils reason behind slow innings: RCB captain reflected on his team losing sixth consecutive match in IPL 2019.
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During the 20th match of the ongoing 12th season of the Indian Premier League between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals at Bengaluru, Delhi Capitals defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by 4 wickets to register their third IPL 2019 victory.
Chasing a 150-run target, Capitals chased the target in the penultimate over on the back of captain Shreyas Iyer’s 11th IPL half-century. Coming in to bat at No. 3 in the first over itself, Iyer ended up scoring 67 (50) with the help of eight fours and two sixes.
In what was a prototypical captain’s innings, Iyer made sure that DC didn’t commit their past errors. Having said that, other DC batsmen gave enough glimpses of not learning from their mistakes.
After Iyer won the toss and put RCB in to bat, the hosts scored a below par 149/8 in their allotted quota of 20 overs. Captain Virat Kohli top-scored for his team after getting out for 41 (33) with the help of one four and two sixes. With bowling figures of 4-0-21-4, Kagiso Rabada was the pick of the bowlers for Delhi Capitals.
“I had to anchor the innings”
Speaking during the post-match presentation ceremony, Kohli disclosed that RCB considered 150 runs to be a competitive total. “We thought 160 would be competitive, but we kept losing wickets at regular intervals, so I wanted to take the game deep.
“Even 150, had we held on to our chances, would’ve been difficult for them. We need to grab those chances, can’t give excuses every day. We just weren’t good on the given day. That’s the whole story of RCB this season,” Kohli was quoted as saying.
Despite Kohli top-scoring for RCB, he gave impressions of playing the anchoring role. Barring his two sixes during the end, Kohli had scored only one boundary during his stay in the first 16 overs. Being asked about the same, Kohli unveiled that senior batsman AB de Villiers’ dismissal forced him to play in the manner that he did.
“When AB [de Villiers] got out, I had to anchor the innings. Stoinis was good, Akshdeep was good too. When one senior batsman gets out, it’s important for the other senior to anchor. I wasn’t happy getting out at the stage, could’ve made 25-30 more for the team if I was still there till the end, but felt 160 was a good score,” Kohli said.
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