BENGALURU: So far it has been a season of two halves for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. They looked down and out after losing six on the trot, but things have turned around of late with the team winning four of their last five to keep their faint playoff hopes alive.
It could well have been five in five, had it not been for Hardik Pandya’s late cameo (16-ball 37) to help Mumbai beat Bangalore in a close encounter 10 days back. In fact, that has been Bangalore’s story this season, where they lost four of their first six games in the last over.
That pattern seems to be changing for Bangalore, who have pulled off precious wins right at the end. When Kings XI Punjab required 47 in the last four overs, pacers took 29/4 to help them win on Wednesday. Against Chennai Super Kings, Parthiv Patel inflicted a run out in the final ball to win by one run while Moeen Ali held his nerve in the final over against Kolkata Knight Riders.
In all these matches, someone or the other has stood out when it mattered. Dale Steyn, who has been ruled out due to inflammation in his shoulder picked early wickets in the two matches he played against Kolkata and Chennai. If Kohli scored a ton against Kolkata, AB de Villiers hit a 44-ball 82 against Punjab. Ali, Patel and Marcus Stoinis have also contributed.
“When you lose a couple of games sometimes you play to try to not lose rather than trying to express yourselves. It takes certain individuals to turn that around and we’ve had a few guys stand up who’ve made runs and taken wickets. We’ve won some close games as well, which has given everyone confidence. We all know we are good players. If you bring the right attitude to the ground every single time then it gives you the best chance of winning,” Stoinis said after the match on Wednesday.
It is such string of wins that has kept them alive in the competition by a mere thread. But, there is no guarantee of final four qualifications even if they win their last three matches. They will have to depend on other matches going their way and a net run rate of -0.683 does not help their cause too much as well. They also have to find alternatives for Ali, Stoinis and Steyn, which will alter their team dynamics.
“We can’t do much now apart from just win games. That’s the only focus. We now go to Delhi, and that’s the next bridge. We’re fortunate we are in a position where we can’t think too far ahead anyways so you just go, express yourself, trust what you are doing,” added Stoinis.
The unavailability of Steyn especially could hamper Bangalore, considering that they have appeared a different unit in his presence.