Sri Lankan Thisara Perera played a big role in Hyderabad’s innings. But no sooner had he got out in the 18th over, they struggled to add much and managed 161.
He rued the fact that he was out, at the wrong time. “Yes, if I had stayed on, we might have touched 180 or so. But that did not happen and Virat Kohli played a brilliant knock.
“Yes, it is disappointing to end up losing but Virat was just too good. I think he is the best batsman in the Bangalore team,” Perera said.
“The wicket was a little on the slower side and the bounce was uneven. It was not easy to bat initially, yet I thought we had a good total to bowl. But when someone plays like that, it is tough for anyone,” Perera adde.
On the early dismissal of Chris Gayle, he said: “When we got Chris Gayle early, we were overjoyed. But then Kohli was unstoppable.”
“In fact, in trying to get Kohli out, we used Dale Steyn early on and he completed his quota of four overs by the 16th. Steyn bowled very well but couldn’t get Kolhi and that made the difference. In the end, I think we fell short by about 20 runs,” he concluded.