News APP

NewsApp (Free)

Read news as it happens
Download NewsApp

Available on  gplay

This article was first published 12 years ago
Rediff.com  » Cricket » Defeat to Punjab was a good reality check: Kohli

Defeat to Punjab was a good reality check: Kohli

Source: PTI
May 18, 2011 10:26 IST
Get Rediff News in your Inbox:

After Royal Challengers Bangalore slumped to second-largest defeat in IPL against Kings XI Punjab that ended their seven-match wining streak, skipper Virat Kohli said that the jolt has come just at the right time.

Kohli said it was good that the defeat has come before the play-offs as it will give them a chance to regroup.

"It's a good reality check, we needed something like this to re-group, see our faults and correct them going forward.

You can not go and win every time. Good that it has happened before the semifinals," Kohli said after the match. Chasing a mammoth 233 against Kings XI Punjab on Tuesday, the Bangalore outfit lost the match by 111 runs.

Defending his bowlers, the stand-in Bangalore skipper said the way Adam Gilchrist (106) and Shaun Marsh (79 not out) batted, the bowlers had no chance.

"We didn't bowl well but all the shots they hit were clean shots, so we couldn't do much about that. I thought we could restrict them to 160 after the first six overs but after that the next five overs I don't think we bowled very well. They also batted brilliantly, hats off to them," he said.

Gilchrist and Marsh raised the highest partnership in T20 cricket -- 206 runs for the second wicket.

Gilchrist, who smashed his second IPL century, said he himself was surprised with his whirlwind knock.

"A pretty important win for us, it will boost our run-rate and we may need that to come into the equation. It's a bit of a surprise to be honest (the knock) but you need tokeep trusting yourself. Twenty20 cricket is a funny game," he said after being adjudged man-of-the-match.

Gilchrist said it was a conscious decision to go after the bowlers once he and Marsh settled on the pitch.

"It was a nicer batting track today, we felt it's a small ground and we might be able to make up for any slow overs early on. Marsh has also turned into a dominator. Once we got to the 10-11 over mark, the track had settled down and it was an intentional decision to keep going hard," he said.

Get Rediff News in your Inbox:
Source: PTI© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE 2024

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE 2024