Ending their hopes of lifting maiden IPL title this year, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) suffered a six-wicket defeat against David Warner-led SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Friday. In the Eliminator tie of the on-going IPL 2020, the RCB batting unit failed to amass runs on the scoreboard.
While losing wickets at regular intervals, RCB managed to post a modest 131 runs. AB de Villiers (56 off 43) and Aaron Finch (32 off 30) managed to steady RCB's ship when other batsmen departed in quick succession. However, the total wasn't enough to mount pressure on the opposition. In response, the SRH batting unit, led by Kane Williamson's gritty half-century, hunted down the target with a delivery to spare. RCB's woeful affair with playoffs continued as they failed to deliver in crucial encounters.
Following their disappointing defeat at Abu Dhabi, RCB head coach Simon Katich admitted that their batting unit let them down in the second half of the season. RCB managed to finish fourth in the points table by registering seven wins in 14 games. However, their campaign ended on a dismal note as they suffered five defeats on the trot.
"We felt like we were on track at the 10-games mark, and then heading into the last four games... looking back on it now, it feels like we probably ran out of a bit steam," said Katich in the post-match press conference.
"Particularly with the bat. That's probably the one area that faded a bit after a really good start to the tournament. Credit to the Sunrisers today, I thought they squeezed us beautifully. They took early wickets and then we were always under pressure trying to play catch up," he added.
Katich further said that RCB had a chance to win the game if they had crossed the 150-run mark on the board. The team management had decided to go with two leggies -- Yuzvendra Chahal and Adam Zampa -- for the crucial game.
"We always felt if we can get 150 on the board we would be in the game, particularly with the two leggies (Yuzvendra Chahal and Adam Zampa) in the team and seeing the wicket," said Katich
"It was slow and offering a little bit of turn. To stack our batting today and only get 130 was disappointing. Sunrisers thoroughly deserved to go through," he added.
