Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated Rajasthan Royals (RR) by seven wickets, in their 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) match, at Dubai International Stadium, Dubai. With RCB seeking a loss due to a slow start, the arrival of AB de Villiers turned the tide in favor of Virat Kohli’s team. The South African scored an unbeaten 55 runs in 22 deliveries, with six sixes and one four. After the match, skipper Kohli praised the T20 specialist and praised his reading of the game. “It doesn’t matter who the pitcher is, he does what he does. AB has always been someone who has been ready to look at the situation and adapt his game accordingly. In my opinion, he is the most impactful player in the IPL,” Kohli stated .
“If he goes, the rivals know that they have little chance and there is a good reason for that. It is simply because of the presence of someone like him that teams feel that we are never offside,” joked the RCB captain.
Praising RCB, the Indian cricketer had some kind words for Gurkeerat Singh Mann. His association with De Villiers helped the 36-year-old score the winning runs. Gurkeerat scored 19 of 17 balls and was undefeated.
RCB got off to a bad start in their chase, losing Aaron Finch early on. When asked if there could be some adjustments to the starters, Kohli said: “Our pattern of play is very clear. Young Dev has hit wonderfully, Finchy has played some impact innings. We understand the dynamics and stick to our plans.”
Kohli also praised Chris Morris, who caught four wickets in four overs, conceding 26 runs. He got the crucial lands from Ben Stokes, Steve Smith and Jos Buttler.
Losing captain Steve Smith felt his team couldn’t deal with AB de Villiers, even though RR was in a winning position.
Defending the decision to deliver the 19th to Jaydev Unadkat and not Jofra Archer, the Australian cricketer said: “We wanted to use Jaydev on the bigger limit, he throws a lot of slower deliveries down the wicket.”
Promoted
After the victory, RCB is third in the league table with 12 points and after nine games. Meanwhile, RR is second to last in the eight-team table with six points.
In the other match on Saturday, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) won the draw and chose to bat against Delhi Capitals (DC) in Sharjah.
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