RCB's Batting Woes Continue: Flower Admits Lack of Runs
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RCB's Batting Woes Continue in Jaipur
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) suffered their fourth defeat in five games after a disappointing batting performance against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Jaipur. Despite Virat Kohli's century, RCB's other batters failed to contribute, leaving their former captain to do the bulk of the scoring.
RCB posted 183 on the board, but RR chased it down with effortless ease, led by a century from Jos Buttler and a fifty from skipper Sanju Samson.
Lack of Intent in Batting
Head coach Andy Flower was brutally honest in his assessment of RCB's batting performance.
We do discuss strike rates and aggression, it's part of the understanding of the T20 game," said Flower at the post-match press conference.
The level of aggression has to be above a certain threshold and you have to always be putting the opposition under pressure. Certainly taking the aggressive option, especially on pitches like today. It's just a fact that at the moment that our top five aren't in sparkling form except Virat. It's a tough place to be. It's not from lack of effort, they're working hard, they're giving everything they've got. Just not firing at the moment. If we've got to turn this around, we need them firing.
Kohli's Lone Ranger Act
Kohli's hundred, also the joint-slowest IPL century of all time, was the lone ranger act although skipper Faf du Plessis did chip in with a decent knock of his own. The century opening stand had put RCB on track for a 190-plus score and perhaps the 200-run mark as well.
However, once the partnership was broken, RR put the squeeze through their spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal, alongside the left-arm pace of Nandre Burger. The surface did have something in it for the slower bowlers in the first half and RR's attack made full use of it.
Dew Factor and Poor Finish
The dew that came later on made RR's chase considerably easier but RCB had begun the second half on a positive note with Yashasvi Jaiswal perishing to Reece Topley in the first over of the chase.
With dew always a factor in Indian conditions, RCB probably needed a cushion of 15-20 extra runs to stay in the hunt. Flower lamented the poor finish to the innings after the base set by the opening stand.
We were a bit light (on runs) I thought, given the base we had, we were about 107/0 in the 12th over, so we should have got upwards of 200 being in that position on a good pitch. But we started well with the ball, Topley and Yash, then Siraj were brilliant upfront but the last over of the powerplay cost us some serious momentum.
Road Ahead Looks Murky
With just two points from five games, RCB's road ahead to the playoffs looks murky at the moment. Given the high tempo at which batters of other teams are operating, it's imminent for Bangalore also to join in the mix.
Flower knows that his team needs to pull up their socks at the earliest to get out of the muddle.
We're one from five and that's not a position any side wants to be. Yes, we do have some issues with our batting. We got Virat in superb form but other guys are struggling for form and confidence. We're trying everything we can to make them feel strong and confident. As you've seen in this competition, scores and aggression of teams are only going one way. So the guys need all the form and confidence to put the opposition under pressure. We haven't found that form yet.
Skipper's Perspective
Skipper Faf du Plessis echoed similar sentiments at the presentation ceremony when asked to evaluate the defeat.
Batting out there with Virat tonight, we found the wicket was tricky and low in the first innings. In our heads, when we were batting, we felt 190 would be a good score. I did feel that maybe the last over or two, maybe there were 10-15 runs more that we could have maximized towards the end," Faf said.
But if you look at how their spinners bowled through the middle, it was tough to hit; the ball was staying quite low. And a good decision by them to chase, you could see in the evening, with the dew, it played much nicer. But yeah, you feel in hindsight that you could have pushed a little bit harder and get through that 190-195 mark.
RCB will need to find a way to improve their batting performance if they want to turn their season around. With the playoffs approaching, they need to start winning games soon.