Captain Virat Kohli was a relieved man after Royal Challengers Bangalore snapped a six-match losing streak for their maiden win this IPL and said everything finally fell into place against Kings XI Punjab.
Kohli (67 not out), in company of AB de Villiers (59 not out), scripted a superb run chase, sharing an 85-run stand to lay the foundation, while Marcus Stoinis (28 off 16) played a crucial cameo as RCB overhauled the target of 174 with four balls to spare and eight wickets in hand.
"It is a great feeling to get across the line. Have been unlucky in a couple of games. Won't say we've been unlucky in every game, but a couple of games we should've closed out before this," Kohli said at the post-match presentation on Saturday.
"After so many setbacks, the guys had the desire. That's one word we spoke about. We thought 190 will be par and to restrict them to 170 was a great effort. To pick up four wickets in eight overs in the middle for 60 runs was a great effort."
AB de Villiers, who was adjudged the man of the match, said it was a long wait for the team.
"Waited for a long time for this, so we're very happy. It's a very small step in the right direction, but also a big one," he said.
"I've got too much respect of the game to be upset about that, to get ahead of myself, to get too hard on myself. It needs one knock to get back in that confidence zone, and hopefully, I can maintain that now."
RCB received a big boost when the seasoned South African pacer Dale Steyn was named as a replacement for injured Australian Nathan Coulter-Nile.
"It was a fantastic move to get Dale involved. We all know what he's capable of. One thing for sure is he'll give 200% with every ball. We know what we have to do."
KXIP captain Ashwin blamed his team for being sloppy on the field.
"We let ourselves down in the field. We dropped catches and let a lot of balls go through us. The dew helped the wicket on. It was really dry in the first half. It gets better to bat in the second half," he said.
Asked why Sarfraz was chosen to bowl the final over, Ashwin said: "There were only six runs to go and the ball was sliding on nicely. I thought the best way against AB and Stoinis was to try and go with a leggie, not that Sam can't defend."
