Pune: Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Faf du Plessis was a happy leader after his side broke their three-match losing streak with a 13-run win over Chennai Super Kings at MCA Stadium in Pune on Wednesday, saying that the much-needed victory will work wonders for the confidence of the unit with the race for playoffs intensifying. The win means that Bangalore are now at fourth place in points table.
“We definitely needed that, just for the confidence in the group. The guys have been doing some good things behind the scenes but you have to do it out in the middle. To put up a decent total on a wicket with a bit of challenge towards it, I think we’re definitely moving in the right direction with the batting lineup and confidence the guys are getting,” said du Plessis in post-match presentation ceremony.
With the bat, Bangalore huffed and puffed their way to 173/8 before the bowlers, especially Harshal Patel, Glenn Maxwell and Josh Hazlewood put up a fine show to restrict Chennai to 160/8. “With the bowling department, we’ve been very good throughout the tournament so it was just a case of backing it up with some good runs.”
“I thought 165 was a par score so anything above that would be nice to get. The Powerplay was probably going to be the easiest time to score because the wicket had a little bit of stop to it. They had a good start in the Powerplay, but once we got two wickets, I thought we were excellent,” observed du Plessis.
Du Plessis further showered praise on the fielding efforts and revealed that Bangalore is getting better in terms of on-field communication. “Energy in the field was amazing, guys diving all over the place, great catching and some good bowling as well. We’re very lucky to have experience and guys who captain their own teams.”
“It’s great for me, when there’s some questions to be asked that I can lean on a really good senior player group. The communication is getting better on the field now that we know each other a bit better.”
After losing no wicket in power-play, Bangalore slipped to 79/3 before Mahipal Lomror top-scored with a 27-ball 42 and Dinesh Karthik applied finishing touches with an unbeaten 17-ball 26. But du Plessis still wants more efforts from the batters in upcoming matches.
“We just want to keep improving in the batting department. We want one of the top four to bat through and get that 70+ score because we’ve got enough power around that can come in. So it’s just that consistency around the batting unit and keep making sure we play a positive brand of cricket and not be too defensive.”
He signed off by saying that discussions around net run rate haven’t been much talked about in the group. “Once you get an opportunity in a match when you can think about it, then you think about it. But it’s about making sure we get the wins. If we get the wins, we’ll be there or thereabouts. I never think about it too far ahead.”
–IANS