Royal Challengers Bangalore are, more or less, out of the race for the playoffs after suffering a humiliating 61-run defeat at the hands of Rising Pune Supergiant at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Saturday.
It was the batting that crumbled once again as they managed just 96 runs for the loss of nine wickets in their 20 overs, having been set a target of 158. Apart from Virat Kohli, none of the Royal Challengers batsmen even reached double digits.
For a franchise that have had some of the biggest names, it looks like the Bengaluru-based side will have to wait even longer to win their first-ever Indian Premier League [IPL] title.
Kohli, as expected, was extremely disappointed with his team’s performance. He felt that the Royal Challengers lost the match rather than Pune winning it.
“It’s hard for a captain to stand here and speak after performances like these. But I’ve got to embrace it, just got to take it in my stride, move forward and learn from these kind of games,” said Kohli.
“We are not getting a good performance together. We are trying hard, but it’s the lack of intent. Guys are fearful of getting out and failing and that’s never a good feeling. We lost that game rather than them winning it. ”
For Pune, Imran Tahir and Lockie Ferguson stood out with the ball as they took three and two wickets respectively. Tahir, who is the number one bowler in the world in T20Is, showed his class as the RCB lower middle-order struggled to read his googly.
On the other hand, Ferguson – brought into the side in place of Faf du Plessis – bowled one of the best spells of this year’s tournament as he conceded just seven runs in four overs which included the wicket of AB de Villiers from where the visitors never recovered.
The Kiwi fast bowler was named the Player of the Match for his efforts.
Earlier, Pune managed 157-3 in their 20 overs with Rahul Tripathi, Steve Smith, and Manoj Tiwary making useful contributions with the bat.
Tripathi was dropped by Kohli early on in his innings and he made the Royal Challengers pay as he scored 37 from 28 deliveries. This was the 26-year-old’s sixth consecutive 30+ score in this seaosn’s IPL.
Smith, meanwhile, seemed to struggle at the start of his innings, but a six and a couple of fours against Samuel Badree got him back into the groove during his 32-ball 45.
Tiwary, as he has done often this season, was on hand to give the required push towards the back-end of Pune’s innings as he made an unbeaten 44 from 35 deliveries. He had good company in the form of MS Dhoni, who scored an unbeaten 21.
At the halfway stage, Pune’s total might have seemed a little below-par, but a disciplined bowling performance saw them cruise to a comfortable victory in the end.
With this win, Smith and co. have consolidated their fourth spot on the table as they now have 10 points from nine matches.
On the other hand, the Royal Challengers have five points from 10 games and their chances of making the playoffs are close to none.
BRIEF SCORES
Rising Pune Supergiant 157-3, 20 overs [Smith 45, Tiwary 44*, Binny 1-17] beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 96-9, 20 overs [Kohli 55, Tahir 3-18, Ferguson 2-7] by 61 runs
Player of the Match – Lockie Ferguson