JOIN USJaipur, DHNS: Royal Challengers Bangalore’s seamer Umesh Yadav rued the batting failure against Rajasthan Royals but insisted that the team played good cricket through the season.
RCB’s campaign ended in the Indian Premier League following their 30-run defeat to Royals.
“I think we played good cricket through the season. In the last four games, we won three. Today it was tough luck for us. We lost early wickets, the batsmen did not get the partnerships we wanted, but then it happens in cricket,” said Yadav who finished with figures of 3-25.
Yadav, said the loss of wickets during the middle-overs hurt them. “The pace was less on the wicket, so the attempt was that if we get runs in the first six overs it will help us. It did happen also, we were 55/1, and from there we felt we can win the match. But in the middle, we lost 3-4 quick wickets, especially during the 6-10 overs. That was a major setback. It should not happen in T20 cricket because if you lose wickets in clumps, the pressure creeps in. The run rate margin also increases. 164 was a good score but the kind of form our batting was in we thought we could do it,” he said.
Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane credited the team for the win and singled out the performances of Rahul Tripathi and wicket-keeper Heinrich Klaasen, who made fine stumpings besides scoring 32 off 21 balls.
“This victory means a lot to us. We missed Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes in our team. The credit goes to the whole team, especially (Heinrich) Klaasen, the way he batted in the middle overs. His and Rahul Tripathi’s innings was very good. I think guys are putting their hand up in the difficult situation, that is what you need,” Rahane said.
Rahane also complimented leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal who took 4/16 to earn the man of the match award. “He was in good flow. When two right-handers are batting, the chances of taking a wicket increases with wrist spinners. I will like to give credit to Shreyas for bowling so well under pressure."