Royal Challengers Bangalore stand-in skipper Virat Kohli blamed their tender dismissals and sloppy fielding for gifting Kolkata Knight Riders a “freebie” within the IPL right here on the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday.
Nitish Rana struck a 21-ball 48 after being dropped twice to play a key position in KKR scoring 200 for five after being put into bat. In reply, RCB managed 179 for 8. “To be honest we handed over the game to them. We deserved to lose,” Kohli mentioned on the post-match presentation. “We weren’t professional enough. We bowled well but fielding was not up to standard. This was a freebie handed over to them.
“In the field, we dropped two chances, that cost us 25-30 runs. When batting, we set us ourselves up very well, but then (suffered) four-five soft dismissals.” Chasing 201, RCB obtained off to a flier with 30 for loss in two overs earlier than Faf du Plessis (17) obtained out to a incorrect one from Suyash Sharma, whereas Glenn Maxwell (5) additionally fell cheaply.
Virat Kohli (54) led RCB’s run chase earlier than being caught on the deep midwicket boundary with Venkatesh Iyer taking a surprising diving catch.
“Not wicket-taking balls, but we hit straight to the fielders. Even while chasing, after losing wickets, one partnership brought us back in the game. We were one partnership short. We need to stay switched on, and not give away soft plays,” Kohli mentioned.
Also Read | RCB vs KKR IPL 2023: Varun, Suyash shine as Kolkata Knight Riders beats Royal Challengers Bangalore
Dedicating the win to his new-born son, the player-of-the-match Varun Chakravarthy mentioned: “I’d like to credit this to my new born son, still not able to see him, I’d like to dedicate it to him and my wife.” Chakravarthy returned with 3/27 that included the wickets Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror and Dinesh Karthik.
“(In the) last match, I went for 49 and this match I did well. That’s how crazy life is,” he mentioned referring to his figures of 1/49 towards Chennai Super Kings.
“I was more focused on accuracy rather than more variations. I didn’t want to add more variations. I have been working a lot and I’d like to credit AC Pratheepan — he’s been working for me and even Abhishek Nayar. I’d like to thank them.
“I like that challenge (to bowl the difficult overs) and Nitish is giving the ball whenever he wants me to do the job, I am liking it.”
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com