IPL 2021: “Gave away 25 runs too many” – Virat Kohli rues death bowling after loss to PBKS


IPL 2021: “Gave away 25 runs too many” – Virat Kohli rues death bowling after loss to PBKS

Virat Kohli

Punjab Kings (PBKS) coasted to victory today against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) with a good all-round effort. After being put in to bat, the KL Rahul-led side rode on an excellent unbeaten knock of 91 from their skipper along with some useful contributions from Chris Gayle and Harpreet Brar to get to a score of 179 which seemed just about par on the Ahmedabad wicket.

ADVERTISEMENT

In the chase however, RCB could not get going as they crumbled with Brar picking up three wickets and the crucial ones of Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers at that. His spell turned the tide in PBKS’ favour and although there was some late hitting from Harshal Patel and Kyle Jamieson, all that they did was minimize the damage as Rahul and co. won the match by 34 runs.

Virat Kohli speaks on RCB’s loss to PBKS

Harpreet Brar
Harpreet Brar and KL Rahul celebrate the wicket of Virat Kohli

RCB skipper Virat Kohli spoke post-match about the loss and said, “They got off to a good start but we pulled things back somewhat after five down. Should have been chasing 160, when they were 116/5, but we gave away 25-odd runs in the end. Focused too much on what the batters were doing. We got away from our plans. We gave too many bad balls for boundaries.”

Speaking about the batting, he said, “As batsmen we could have tried different things early on. It was tough to hit through the line. It was all about trying to get a partnership and have a strike rate of more than 110. We were not able to do that as a batting unit. Just a few little tweaks we need to address going forward. There are areas we need to improve. In the end we gave away 25 runs too many. One wicket there and we could have squeezed them. We couldn’t execute our plans.”

ADVERTISEMENT

RCB’s next match will be against Kolkata Knight Riders on the 3rd of May.

Also Read: IPL 2021: Shikhar Dhawan makes a donation of Rs. 20 lakh plus post-match rewards to Mission Oxygen for COVID-19 relief

Also Read: IPL 2021: “We are with you” – Rashid Khan posts video offering support to India amidst the COVID-19 pandemic