Despite Royal Challengers Bangalore scoring 199 runs against Mumbai Indians, Faf du Plessis was dissatisfied with his batting unit’s performance.
After losing by six wickets to Mumbai Indians (MI), Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Faf du Plessis expressed dissatisfaction with the batting performance in the final five overs. Suryakumar Yadav’s blistering knock gave MI a comfortable win over RCB at the Wankhede Stadium. “I think we were at least 20 runs short, in the context of the wicket,” Faf said during the post-match presentation. They have a strong chasing team and a deep batting lineup. We didn’t capitalize in the final five overs, and we were disappointed by the lack of runs in those five overs.”
The RCB batter praised Suryakumar after he scored 83 off 35 balls to win the game for them.
“You need to say 200 is a good score (to motivate the players), and you need to make sure you slow down.” With the pace up, they capitalized on the first six overs. He (SKY) is one of the best; once he gets going, he’s difficult to stop. Siraj has been outstanding in the first half of the IPL. He got away with it for a long time, but the guys will come out and play well,” he added.
“Towards the back end of the tournament, when the wickets get slower, you need to make sure you are around 60 runs in the first six overs,” Faf added.
MI batted first, and RCB scored 199/6 in 20 overs. After MI took early wickets of Virat Kohli (1) and Anuj Rawat (6), RCB fought back with a 120-run third-wicket stand between Faf du Plessis (65 in 41 balls, with five fours and three sixes) and Glenn Maxwell (68 in 33 balls, with eight fours and four sixes).
Dinesh Karthik (30 in 18 balls, four boundaries, and a six) and Kedar Jadhav (12* in 10 balls) came in late to help RCB reach a competitive total.
MI’s bowler of choice was Jason Behrendorff (3/36). Cameron Green, Chris Jordan, and Kumar Kartikeya each had a wicket.
Ishan Kishan’s power-hitting got MI off to a good start in their 200-run chase, but the hosts were reduced to 52/2 in five overs after Kishan (42 in 21 balls, four fours and four sixes) and skipper Rohit Sharma (7) were both dismissed by Wanindu Hasanranga.
However, once Suryakumar Yadav and Nehal Wadhera were settled, MI had no choice but to move forward. The pair scored 140 runs for the third wicket. Suryakumar hit 83 off 35 balls, including seven fours and six sixes. Wadhera hit the winning runs for MI, scoring 52* in 34 balls with four boundaries and three sixes.
MI completed the chase with 21 balls and six wickets in hand.
Suryakumar Yadav was named ‘Man of the Match’ after his explosive knock.
With this victory, MI has moved up to third place in the standings, with six wins and five losses. They have 12 points in total. RCB has dropped to seventh place after winning five and losing six games. They have ten points in total.
