It looked like another night where the famed Royal Challengers Bangalore batting line-up was set to disappoint the fans at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium as Kings XI Punjab had reduced them to 81/4 in the 9th over of their innings. But what followed was mayhem as AB de Villiers and Marcus Stoinis took the KXIP bowling to the cleaners and RCB ended with 202 in their 20 overs. The end result was a 17-run win for Virat Kohli's boys.
Speaking after the game, skipper Kohli once again pointed how the boys are looking to express themselves and enjoy their ride in the league as they have now managed to register their fourth win in the last five games.
"We won 4 out of the last 5 we have played, it could have been 5 out of 5. We are just looking to enjoy our cricket. Tonight was another example of having fun. Our only focus was to play good cricket as a team, we know that we are a good side, losing 6 in a row hurt all of us. That big break before Mohali helped us,a he smiled.
The big factor was definitely the 121-run partnership between ABD and Stoinis and Kohli said that changed the game for the home side as they went from a challenging score to a match-winning one thanks to that partnership.
"The partnership of ABD and Stoinis changed the match for us. At one stage we thought 175 was good but AB and Marcus got us past 200. The way they played was the deciding factor," he said.
Kohli said that the team needs to continue to keep focusing on the basics and play the way RCB is know to play and not try and do things that will put undue pressure on the players.
"It is important that we don't take any pressure. We just need to play how the world knows we can play. Having 6-7 bowling options is a luxury for any team. I can pick and choose who is bowling well. Marcus brings in a lot of balance to our team. It was an outstanding effort by the bowlers today," he said.
--IANS
bbh/
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