SRH vs RCB: "Chinnaswamy has been a big frustration" - Faf du Plessis' bold remark after victory over SRH

The Faf du Plessis-led Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won against the Pat Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the 41st match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) on Thursday, April 25, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad.

Winning the toss and batting first in the match, Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis provided RCB with a good start. Du Plessis didn't score big but Kohli managed to reach a half-century, although a very slow one. Rajat Patidar was the top performer for RCB as he hit a sensational 19-ball half-century to help his side register a total of 206/7.

Defending the total, RCB bowlers were right on the money from the very first over as they dismissed dangerous Travis Head early. RCB picked 4 more wickets inside the powerplay and dismissed all the big guns. Then, the middle and lower-order batters of SRH tried to fight but it wasn't enough for the win. In the end, RCB restricted SRH to 171/8 to win the match by 35 runs.

At the post-match presentation ceremony, Faf du Plessis said that they have shown some good performances in the last few games, but have finished on the losing side, which led to the low confidence in the dressing room. Faf du elaborated:

"Last two games, we've shown great signs of fight. SRH game was 270 plus, we got 260. KKR game as well - 1 run. We've been close for a while, but you need to win matches to get confidence as a group. Will sleep easier tonight. You can't speak confidence into the group, can't fake confidence into the group. Only thing that gives confidence is performances."

Faf du Plessis noted that Virat Kohli has been getting much-needed support from the other batters of the team after doing the heavy lifting in the first half of IPL 2024. Faf du Plessis further labeled RCB's home ground - Chinnaswamy - as a big frustration for them because it is a graveyard for bowlers. Faf du Plessis elaborated:

"The competition is so strong, the teams are so strong that you'll get hurt if you're not at 100 percent. More guys scoring runs now. First half of the tournament only Virat was scoring runs. Greeny scoring runs now will be massive for him. We know that Chinnaswamy, that's been a big frustration for us. It's a difficult ground to bowl at. We've tried to find a recipe for it, but it's tough."

The Previous RCB vs SRH IPL 2024 Match Was A Run-fest

In their first match in the Indian Premier League 2024, the batters of both teams made most of the conditions on the offer at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru and annihilated the bowlers to produce the highest IPL total and the highest match aggregate in all T20s with a tally of 549 runs.

Batting first, SRH posted 287/3 riding on the back of Travis Head's remarkable century and Heinrich Klaasen's brilliant half-century with Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad and Aiden Markram chipping in with significant runs. Only two RCB bowlers were among the wickets with Lockie Ferguson picking 2 and Reece Topley bagging one wicket on April 15.

Then, RCB finished their innings on 262 for 7, thanks to Dinesh Karthik and Faf du Plessis' batting masterclass. Virat Kohli, Mahipal Lomror and Anuj Rawat also tried their best but RCB eventually lost the match by 25 runs.