BENGALURU: Sometimes, it takes just one good performance to win a T20 game. Aaron Finch proved that with a 34-ball knock of 72. But it took a bad show from almost the entire Royal Challengers Bangalore team to lose against Gujarat Lions.
Gujarat sailed to a seven-wicket on Thursday, dealing another blow to RCB’s chances. The visiting side did not have the best of starts as they lost two wickets with just 23 on the board. But then Finch happened. Assisted by better batting conditions, the Australian made light work of the attack. Six towering sixes and five boundaries meant that he had read the pitch properly. He made it look so easy.
“It was a conscious effort to go out and attack. We wanted to be ahead of the run rate. Once you get comfortable, you can attack. Now, you need to win games,” said Finch. “In the second innings, it had started to come on to the bat nicely. It played well and a lot better than we thought it would.”
It was the same old story with RCB again. Their batting was the envy of other teams. But clearly, that seems to be a thing of the past. “You have to bat according to the situation. It was one of those days when batsmen got out to soft dismissals. It was one of those unlucky days that we could not click as a unit,” said Kedar Jadhav.
“That anxiety was there to get the win and create momentum. There is added pressure but you cannot change according to that pressure. We still need to look for that win to get that momentum and click as a unit,” he added.
After being put in, RCB huffed and puffed to 134 all out. Pawan Negi and Jadhav were the highest scorers with 32 and 31, respectively. Already in trouble after winning just two of the eight matches before Thursday, this performance will not help their cause at all. The surprising thing in all this is how the entire team is just not able to crack the mystery of their below-par performance.
It was a struggle from the beginning for openers Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli, with both joining Travis Head in getting out the space of four balls. The total remained stationary at 22 runs. There was relief in the form of Jadhav and Negi but that was not enough.
Brief scores: RCB 134 in 20 ovs (P Negi 32, K Jadhav 31; A Tye 3/12, R Jadeja 2/28) lost to GL 135/3 in 13.5 ovs (A Finch 72, S Raina 34; S Badree 2/29).
vivekphadnis@newindianexpress.com