“We have been talking about what we want to get better at, and that, for me, is the shining light for the way the boys have bowled”
Faf du Plessis was buoyed by the new-found aggression in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s approach that helped them beat Delhi Capitals by 47 runs to stay in the race for the playoffs in IPL 2024.
“We want to play that style of cricket – RCB talks about playing bold,” du Plessis said, “and just proud that we can actually do that now, putting our performance together.”
RCB came into the game with the knowledge that a loss would knock them out of the tournament. They even lost their du Plessis and Virat Kohli cheaply after being sent in. But that didn’t stop Will Jacks and Rajat Patidar from putting on a counter-attacking 88-run stand for the third wicket. In the end, they finished on 187 for 9.
“It’s just confidence, isn’t it?” du Plessis said of the batting performance. “First half of the season, we were really fighting for it, didn’t quite come together for us; you just need a couple of guys to find their form in the tournament, and it’s happened.
“From a batting perspective, we’ve been around that 200 mark six-seven games in a row now [five in their last seven], so boys are batting really well. And then the bowling obviously – I think the first five or six games, we almost couldn’t get wickets at all, and now, this is the third time [in a row] we have bowled a team out. So that’s a good effort. Especially today’s game, with the extra guy batting.”
RCB took control in the chase by reducing Capitals to 30 for 4 inside four overs. Swapnil Singh, the left-arm fingerspinner, dismissed David Warner in the first over before Mohammed Siraj and Yash Dayal settled in with testing lines and lengths. Lockie Ferguson’s 2 for 23 helped them keep a leash on the scoring in the middle overs even as Axar Patel fought back with a half-century.
“A lot of work has gone in behind the scenes,” du Plessis said. “I think that’s for me the most obvious thing where the change has happened. I feel that behind closed doors, we are getting it right in our processes – we have been talking about what we want to achieve and what we want to get better at. And that, for me, is the shining light for the way the boys have bowled.
“Also, as a captain, I feel we have a lot of variety in our bowling attack. Six or seven options, all very different. So you assess the conditions on the night and you can just pull the best options almost out. But since Siraj has come back, obviously wanting to prove a point, has bowled beautifully. Yash has been exceptional right through the tournament. And Lockie the last few games has been brilliant.”
