Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) suffered their third consecutive defeat on Saturday after they failed to turn up with the bat against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) at Sharjah. After being put to bat first, the Bangalore batting unit managed to post a meagre 120 on the scoreboard which wasn't enough to put any pressure on the David Warner-led side.
SRH, despite losing wickets at regular intervals, hunted down the total with 35 deliveries to spare. With this crucial win, the Hyderabad side prevented RCB from sealing playoffs berth-- as of now.
Following RCB's hat-trick of defeats, AB de Villiers admitted that they failed to put up a dominant performance on the Sharjah wicket. He lauded SRH's bowling unit and said that the turning point of the match was him and Josh Philippe getting out in quick succession.
"Initially, we were talking about 160 which was a bit high. But credit to them. They bowled exceptionally well from the word go. They didn't give us many boundary balls, their seamers particularly started well in the powerplay. They didn't make a lot of mistakes and it didn't get easier when Rashid Khan came in and didn't bowl any bad balls
The turning point was probably when Josh and I got out back to back. That cost us 20-30 runs. The field got wet in the second innings which changed the conditions quite a bit. Maybe 140 wouldn't have been enough as well," said De Villiers in the post-match conference.
To keep their playoffs dream alive, RCB need to grab two points in their next fixture against Delhi Capitals (DC) on Monday. With 14 points in 13 games, Kohli's men are currently sitting on the second place amid their shaky state.
"We are very well prepared. We had a lot of meetings talking about the game. We did everything we could out there. But they bowled very well and didn't make a lot of mistakes. Yes, we could've played better and I would never shy away from saying that. The Sharjah wicket wasn't easy tonight. It was slow and the outfield was slow as well. I would say again that the turning point was me and Josh getting out in quick succession," De Villiers further said.
Despite RCB's recent performances, the South African stalwart is optimistic about them turning up against DC to clinch two much-needed points.
"SRH didn't make a lot of mistakes. They were quite 'boring' there, which was required on this wicket. They bowled on a good length and backed it up with good fielding. We didn't put enough runs on the board today and that's what it comes down to. It's a terrible feeling to lose three in a row. That's the nature of the tournament. Anything can happen. If you lose three in a row, you can win three in a row as well. The Delhi game is a big name and we have to come out with our best cricket against them," he concluded.
