Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur)

Our finishing has been poor, need to execute well: Vettori

Vettorisay­s

- Devarchit Varma devarchit.varma@htlive.com

MISFIRING Vettori says team needs to step up and reduce pressure on skipper Virat Kohli, de Villiers MUMBAI:Royal

Challenger­s Bangalore (RCB) coach Daniel Vettori on Tuesday conceded that his side needs improvemen­t in execution of plans with the ball, after suffering a 46-run defeat at the hands of Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018.

Despite reducing Mumbai Indians to 0/2 in the first over, RCB bowlers could not contain the hosts’ batsmen as they went on to post 213/6. Rohit Sharma top scored with 94, whereas Evin Lewis (65) notched up his first IPL half-century, while adding 108 runs with the MI captain.

“We are getting good starts. Two wickets in two balls and the last Power Play against Rajasthan wasn’t so bad. But our finishing, the ability to close out innings has been poor. That’s purely an execution. I think the planning and the strategy… it’s all there. We just have to execute better. Particular­ly on these wickets, last time we had an outstandin­g wicket at Chinnaswam­y. Wankhede has always been amazing,” Vettori told media.

“We got off to a good start but then we lost few wickets and their spinners got on top of us. I think the frustratio­n will be on the back end of our bowling. We need to better on that front so that the batsmen aren’t chasing so much.

“When you are chasing so much it puts extreme amount of pressure on how you play. Virat (Kohli) played exceptiona­lly well unfortunat­ely none could go on with him. Our frustratio­n will be how we ended with the ball in the last two games rather than our batting,” he added.

SPINNERS FAILED

Vettori also admitted that RCB spinners could not bowl with freedom. “I think with Washington (Sundar) and Yuzi (Yuzvendra Chahal), they were probably in defensive position with Rohit and Lewis being very aggressive. So we bowled defensivel­y. When Mumbai spinners came on, their team was in a good position and that allowed them to actually bowl and be little more attacking.

“We saw the rewards what they got. So it’s different styles of bowling. Mumbai were on top Team M when they came into bowl but we weren’t able to do a similar thing,” Vettori said.

Vettori lamented that RCB could have kept Mumbai under 190.

“We knew how the wicket was and we knew players will be super aggressive. We believed anything under 190 was a good result even after that start. But we let it go. Things also went against us. Hardik’s (Pandya) dismissal, had we got him, may be they would have got 20-30 runs short. It does make a difference in the final score.”

RCB got under pressure after Quinton de Kock (19) and AB de Villiers (1) fell inside one over, and without the services of Brendon McCullum in this game, the Most 6s hit by player Andre Russell middle-order crumbled without any fightback.

“We have faith in our batting. With what Mandeep Singh and Washington did in the last game. Corey (Anderson), unfortunat­ely got a wrong day. We have got a long batting order and we obviously know that there is little bit amount of pressure on AB and Virat, but we have got the team to go with them or take over when they get out.

“We don’t want to put pressure on just one person. We know AB is an incredible player and we hope he does well in every game. But that’s not realistic,” Vettori said, adding that New Zealand pacer Tim Southee would be joining the team in a couple of days.

SIXES BY EACH TEAM IN IPL XI We have got a long batting order and we obviously know that there is little bit amount of pressure on AB and Virat, but we have got the team. We know AB (de Villiers) is an incredible player and we hope he does well in every game. But that’s not realistic.

6s hit by others (No. of players) Tota lnoof6s On RCB batting On RCB spinners On pressure on the top order

We bowled defensivel­y. When Mumbai spinners came on, their team was in a good position and that allowed them to actually bowl and be more attacking.

 ?? PTI ?? Mumbai Indians mentor Sachin Tendulkar has a word with RCB captain Virat Kohli before the start of Tuesday’s match at the Wankhede. Virat scored an unbeaten 92 but Royal Challenger­s Bangalore lost to Mumbai Indians by 46 runs.
PTI Mumbai Indians mentor Sachin Tendulkar has a word with RCB captain Virat Kohli before the start of Tuesday’s match at the Wankhede. Virat scored an unbeaten 92 but Royal Challenger­s Bangalore lost to Mumbai Indians by 46 runs.
 ?? PTI ?? Mumbai Indians opener Evin Lewis hit five sixes on way to his 42ball 65 against RCB on Tuesday.
PTI Mumbai Indians opener Evin Lewis hit five sixes on way to his 42ball 65 against RCB on Tuesday.

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