Kyle Jamieson and Virat Kohli (Photo-IPL)
Kyle Jamieson and Virat Kohli (Photo-IPL)

Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli admitted that his bowling unit ended up giving 25 runs too many following a 34-run-defeat to the Punjab Kings.

Punjab Kings were stuttering at 5/132 after the end of 17 overs before KL Rahul and Harpreet Brar laid into Harshal Patel (0/53 in four overs) in the final three to eventually finish with 5/179.

We Gave Away 25 Too Much At The End: Virat Kohli

Patel gave away 40 out of those 47 runs in his last two overs and Virat Kohli admitted that the bowlers strayed a bit from the plans at the backend.

They got off to a decent start and we pulled things back decently. Probably gave away 25 too much at the end, should have been chasing 160. Had a chat around executing our plans, which we did, but at the end we strayed away,” said Virat Kohli during the post-match presentation.

Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal
Devdutt Padikkal

RCB needed a brisk start to give themselves the best possible chance of nailing down the target of 180.

But, as Kohli admitted, the Bengaluru-based franchise never got off the blocks. While they lost Devdutt Padikkal cheaply, Virat Kohli (35 off 34 balls) and Rajat Patidar (31 off 30 balls) struggled to increase the tempo of the innings.

Read More  KKR Playing 11 vs RCB- IPL 2024, Match 10

The duo managed just 43 runs in 7.4 overs before Virat Kohli’s wicket led to a collapse thanks to Harpreet Brar and Ravi Bishnoi.

While Virat lauded Punjab Kings for bowling well, he reckoned that his batsmen including him could have been more innovative during the power play.

“With the bat we never got the momentum, they bowled well to be honest. Just kept the pressure going. But as batsmen as well we could have tried more things at the start. It was tough to hit through the line. It was about making a partnership and making sure you’re there to keep getting the boundaries, bat at a strike rate of at least 110. We didn’t manage to do that,” said Kohli.

“We understand the areas where we lost momentum. The composition of our team is such that someone like Rajat, if you see the last game, controlled the game for us. We give him that freedom and sometimes it doesn’t work out. Maxi and AB at 4 and 5 has worked well for us, when there’s a partnership early, one of them will come off,” he added.

Rajat Patidar endured a horror night as he managed a painstaking 30-ball 31. Kohli, however, backed the youngster and dismissed the performance as one-off.

Kohli signed off by lauding Harshal Patel [31* off 13]and Kyle Jamieson [16* off 11] for the lusty blows that the duo hit in the end to reduce the margin of defeat.

Read More  Watch- Hyderabad crowd goes 1-step further than Ahmedabad, does this to Hardik Pandya

”Didn’t work today but Rajat’s a quality player. A bit of a positive at the end, pulled things back nicely. Harshal and Jamo struck a few at the end. A loss off 60-65 would’ve hurt more,” he added.

Also Read: IPL 2021: Shahrukh Khan Can Aspire To Be Like Hardik Pandya But He Might Take 3-4 Seasons To Become A Reliable Finisher, Says Scott Styris