RCB skipper Virat Kohli
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), in their pursuit to book a certain playoffs berth, suffered a thumping eight-wicket defeat against MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Sunday.
Batting first at Dubai, RCB managed to post 145-run total on the back of skipper Virat Kohli's vital half-century. After the departure of both the openers- Devdutt Padikkal and Aaron Finch- Kohli bolstered RCB's run-flow by scoring 50 off 43 deliveries. He was also joined by AB de Villiers' crucial knock of 39 off 36 deliveries.
However, an inefficient bowling display led to CSK hunting down the total with eight deliveries to spare. Ruturaj Gaikwad, scoring 65 off 51, took the game away from the Bangalore side during the run-chase. 23-year-old Gaikwad was also assisted by Ambati Rayudu's 39 in the middle overs.
Following RCB's defeat against the three-time champions, skipper Kohli said that their bowling unit wasn't expressive enough and they allowed CSK batsmen to dictate stuff in the centre.
"What you saw in the second innings wasn't a true representation of how the pitch was. They bowled stump to stump. I don't think we got a ball to drive when we batted. Their spinners kept it tight too. 140+ is a competitive total on that pitch, we were targetting 150," said Kohli in the post-match presentation.
"I thought we still could have bowled change of pace and the odd bouncer. We weren't expressive enough. We let batsmen dictate stuff. You have to be prepared on a given day to do well. All sides have good players, it's about how you come out onto the park on that particular day. We are playing really good cricket and you have to accept you will lose games here and there," he added.
With seven triumphs in 11 games so far, RCB are sitting on the third position with 14 points under their belt. They're next scheduled to face defending champions Mumbai Indians on Wednesday at Abu Dhabi.
