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Following his side's loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) skipper Rajat Patidar said that his opponents dominated with the bat and executed their slow bouncers and slow yorkers really well.
RCB lost by 55 runs, but still stay at number one and play the second-placed Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Qualifier one, which they win, giving them a direct spot in the final, and if they lose, it gives them a second chance in the Qualifier two, where the Qualifier one loser and the winner of the eliminator clash. With half-centuries from Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma and Heinrich Klaasen and fine bowling spells from Sakib Hussain and Eshan Malinga, SRH put on a clinical show of domination over the defending champions. During the post-match proceedings, skipper Rajat said, "I think their top five batsmen played really well, and they purely dominated in the first innings. (Pitch slowed down?) Not really, but I think the slow bouncer was gripping a bit, but I think, their strength is slow bouncers and yorkers, they executed pretty well. The priority was to be on the top, but I think, there were a lot of runs in the first inning." Patidar added that while 255 is a good score on such a batting wicket, SRH bowlers made things difficult with their slow bouncers and yorkers. "I think 255 is a good score on this wicket. And I think their five bowlers executed the slow bouncers and yorkers pretty well. Hyderabad, I think it is a good wicket, but when you start bowling slow bouncers, slow into the wicket, I think it is really tough for the batsman to score the runs," he added. Coming to the match, knocks from Ishan Kishan (79 in 46 balls, with eight fours and three sixes), Abhishek Sharma (56 in 22 balls, with four boundaries and five sixes), and Heinrich Klaasen (51 in 24 balls, with two fours and five sixes) pushed SRH to 255/4 in 20 overs. In the chase, after a fiery 60-run stand between Venkatesh Iyer (44 in 19 balls, with four boundaries) and Virat Kohli (15 in 11 balls, with two fours), RCB fell apart to 94/3. Skipper Rajat Patidar (56 in 39 balls, with six fours and a six) and Krunal Pandya (41 in 31 balls, with five fours) stitched an 84-run stand, but RCB ended at 200/4, with Eshan Malinga (2/33) and Sakib Hussain (1/31) being spectacular for SRH. SRH will be playing the eliminator against the fourth-finishing side. (ANI)
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