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Captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Faf du Plessis, said that his team was “20 runs short” of a par total because to the Impact Player rule and the dew during the chase after Rajasthan Royals (RR) eliminated them from the IPL 2024.
On a new pitch in Ahmedabad, RCB scored 172 for 8 after being asked to bat. Even though their bowlers put up a strong fight thereafter, RR eventually won by four wickets with one over remaining.
“I think with the dew coming in the second innings, we thought we were a little bit short with the bat,” du Plessis said after the match on the official broadcast. “It felt like we needed a push, a few more runs to make it even more competitive. So I did think we were 20 runs shy of a good score on that pitch. But credit to our boys who fought really well, hanging in there right till the end. That’s all you can ask for, a great fight.
“Batting first, it can be tough because the ball is sticking into the surface. You’re thinking 190. But if you lose a couple of wickets then the problem starts.
“If you look at naturally assessing the pitch and the conditions, you would say it’s a 180 pitch because it was swinging up front and was quite slow. So normal cricket, almost like old T20 cricket, 180 is a good score. But what we found out this season is with obviously the extra batter and the longer batting line-ups because of the super sub [Impact Player], your par scores are really not what they used to be, especially if there’s dew. So we knew we needed a little bit more in terms of a score to challenge them.”
RCB appeared to be headed for a par score at one point, though. After 12 overs, they were 95 for 2, and ESPNcricinfo’s Forecaster projected a final score of 192. However, they lost a set to Cameron Green in the following over. Glenn Maxwell crashed from the first ball while attempting to strike R Ashwin for a six-figure score shortly afterward.
“That was a shocking shot,” Varun Aaron said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show. “I understand if it was a ball to be hit, you hit it. [But] it was a good ball coming in. I think that shot was just not on at that point. He could have just absorbed a few balls and then gone big. You already lost quite a few wickets, your big players are in the dugout, and you are the most notable player at the crease at that point and then you play a shot like that, that’s letting your team down on a very big day.”