After managing just 96 against Rising Pune Supergiant, Bangalore all set to become first team in IPL-10 to be out of contention for a play-off berth
Virat Kohli
RCB captain Virat Kohli reacts after the run out of Kedar Jadhav during their match against RPS in Pune on Saturday. Pic/AFP
The Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) bowling attack is not exactly as threatening as that of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The track at Pune isn't exactly the same as Eden Gardens this season. But the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batsmen once again struggled to get going at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium here on Saturday. This time, losing to Pune by 61 runs and all but ending their chances of making it to the play-offs of IPL 2017.
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On the other hand, the Supergiant not only improved their chances of qualifying for the play-offs with this win, but also improved their net run-rate with the big margin of victory while defending a total of 157. They currently sit comfortably in fourth position with 10 points in their kitty.
It wasn't the easiest of tracks to bat on, but a total of 96 for nine in 20 over can't be justified at all. "None of the guys came back saying the wicket was bad. We just couldn't execute," RCB head coach Daniel Vettori admitted after the match.
It was again a bizarre batting show for the RCB, similar to the one against the KKR, where they were bowled out for 49. Barring Virat Kohli (55), none of their batsmen managed to get into double figures. The extras total (four) was more than the individual scores of six of their batsmen. There were only six fours and one six in the entire RCB innings, out of which four fours and one six were hit by Kohli.
The Supergiant came up with an all-round bowling performance, with Kiwi pacer Lockie Ferguson being the stand-out performer. Ferguson, who replaced Faf du Plessis in the line-up to strengthen the team's bowling, had 18 dot balls in his four-over spell and gave away just seven runs while bagging two important wickets.
Earlier, Supergiant managed to reach 157-3, thanks to useful contributions from Rahul Tripathi (37), skipper Steve Smith (45) and Manoj Tiwary (44*), who was promoted to bat at number four.
17 Number of wickets RCB have lost in powerplays this season is the most for any team. Their powerplay run rate of 6.64 is the lowest among all teams
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