RCB Captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and elected to bat first in the afternoon game.
They misplaced batting megastar Virat Kohli for a brilliant duck but du Plessis and Rajat Patidar included 105 runs for the moment wicket stand. While Patidar scored 48 runs off 38 balls, Du Plessis top-scored with 73 runs from 50 conveyances. Vital 30s from Glenn Maxwell and Dinesh Karthik made a difference Bangalore in posting a hardened total of 192/3.
Losing skipper, Kane Williamson said:
“It’s been quite a challenge for us, we need to come up with ways to reverse that pressure and turn around. These have been par totals, the batting has been quality, but as a unit there are areas to touch on. I think earlier in the competition when there was assistance with the new ball we were certainly very threatening, so we need to go back to the drawing board as we have a little gap between the next game. We will have to get a bit more creative and come up with ways to change the momentum. Today we were outplayed, RCB are a really strong side, in fact all teams are strong. For us it’s about looking to stay calm. We do need to improve, but don’t need to overthink. The margins are always fine, but we need to show signs of improvement. We didn’t get off to a great start, they had a very good total on that surface. It was holding a bit, and it was turning a bit, the wicket. We needed to build some partnerships and take the game deep in order to maximise the opportunities on this Wankhede ground, but we were unable to do that. A lot of learning, we were outplayed like I said, but we do have a gap. So it’s important for us to reassess and we need to be clear how we target our next matches and take it positively. I’m not sure exactly, but I think they (Jansen, Natarajan) are recovering pretty well. Certainly hoping to see them again soon.”
Winning skipper, Faf du Plessis said:
“What we are trying to get better at as a team is making sure that one of those top-four creates a bit of a base. We have got some really strong hitters at the back. The games where we didn’t do so well, there was a big cluster of wickets in the powerplay. Obviously some stability but at the same time you gonna make sure you don’t go into defensive mode. You still want to try and take the right bowlers on at the right time. He (Rajat Patidar) has been a great addition, there are some fantastic young Indian batters within our set-up. Even someone like Suyash, he played three games and probably didn’t go the way he would have liked to but there’s some real talent there. Rajat comes in and just plays with that freedom, real cool, calm composure about him. That’s always really good traits for a youngster to have. Mahipal is another young guy coming into the team, we are very lucky that we have got some real good Indian batting talent.”
Player of the Match, Wanindu Hasaranga said:
“I try to bowl wicket-to-wicket, that’s why most of my dismissals are lbws. That’s my role (to pick wickets). Leg-spinners are wicket-takers, that’s what I tried to do. He (Chahal) is a very good friend and he supported me last year. Five Sri Lankans are playing this IPL and they’re all doing very well, so I am really happy.”
Full list of award winners from the SRH vs RCB match
Super Striker of the match – Rahul Tripathi
Game Changer of the match – Wanindu Hasaranga
Most Sixes – Dinesh Karthik
Power Player of the match –Glenn Maxwell
Most Valuable Asset of the match – Wanindu Hasaranga
Fastest Delivery of the match – Umran Malik
Most Fours – Faf du Plessis
Player of the match – Wanindu Hasaranga
