Mumbai: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) director of cricket operations, Mike Hesson, has said that the 18-run victory against Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday night had shown that his boys were “making it a habit of getting over the odds”, and that skipper Faf du Plessis’ 96 scored under tremendous pressure would do his confidence a lot of good.
Aided by a scintillating 64-ball 96 by du Plessis and fine cameos from Glenn Maxwell (23) and Shahbaz Ahmed (26), RCB overcame the early losses of Anuj Rawat (4) and Virat Kohli (0) to score a competitive 181/6 in 20 overs. Later, pace bowler Josh Hazlewood bowled four superb overs (4/25) to rip apart LSG’s batting for an 18-run win.
RCB have secured their fifth win of the season and a visibly pleased Hesson said, “Yeah, I am delighted. I think once again we were under the pump. It was a pressure situation throughout with both the bat and the ball. Once again, we showed some good character. That is the sign of a good side. We are embracing that challenge. We are making it a habit of getting over the odds.
“For Faf, other than he has been a bit short of runs. For his confidence, for the confidence of the batting group, it is so important. He has been training really well. We always knew that it was a matter of time. Those runs came for us when he was under immense pressure.”
Hesson also spoke about the spin department, saying, “We made the assessment pretty quickly that the pitch was going to assist finger spin. The ball was holding on to the pitch. Shahbaz was exceptional as he was getting some bounce and turn. He was also bowling at the nets and he was bowling at those hard lengths. He was able to make sure that they were hitting the right spots.
“It was more of a tactical ploy. Shahbaz’s four overs were critical and Maxy’s (Glenn Maxwell) wicket of getting rid of Krunal (Pandya) at the right time was very crucial,” concluded Hesson.
–IANS