IPL 2018: RCB Put us Under Pressure with their Batting - Kane Williamson

A decisive catch of Kane Williamson by Colin de Grandhomme ensured no last over hiccup, as Royal Challengers Bangalore got home on time.

The hosts lost their first wicket with just six runs on the board. And Kohli too lost his wicket, scoring 12 off 11 balls. The side needed a special inning, and it was AB de Villiers, who stepped up the paddle.

The right-hand batsman hit 12 fours and a maximum. His 69 off 39 balls, coupled with Moeen Ali’s 65 off 34 balls took the side to 218/6. Colin de Grandhomme’s 40 off 17 balls added to the blitz and the visitors had a lot to work on.

Spinner Rashid Khan bagged three wickets in his four overs while pacer Siddarth Kaul picked two. Basil Thampi had an off day, as he went for 70 runs in his four-over spell.

The chase was never easy, and it didn’t look easy too. Shikhar Dhawan failed to fire and departed cheaply scoring 18 off 15 balls. Opener Alex Hales smashed three sixes and got to 37 off 24, but it was skipper Williamson who took his side very close to a win.

He along with Manish Pandey kept the orange army in the chase. The leader batted with a strike rate of over 192 and hit five sixes and seven fours.

Pandey, on the other end, made 62 off 38 deliveries. But they fell short by 14 runs, as the Bangalore bowlers came back strongly to ensure a crucial win.

The losing skipper felt the bowlers could have done a lot better. Having secured a place in the playoffs, Williamson said they have a lot to learn.

“I think, to be honest, we missed the trick a little with the ball in hand. RCB have a fantastic batting line-up and put us under pressure. When you’re chasing a total like that, you need to make right decisions, at key times in the chase, we didn’t.

But there’s a lot to learn as we move forward. We’ve seen the surface being tough here, tonight it was a good wicket, so we didn’t want to get carried away. Close, but not close enough.” he said.