IPL 2024: Dinesh Karthik's grit not enough as Hyderabad outlasts RCB in IPL thriller
Xtra Time Web Desk: In a thrilling encounter at the IPL arena, Hyderabad emerged victorious by a margin of 25 runs over a resilient Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) side. Despite Dinesh Karthik's heroic innings of 83 runs, which stood out as a lone beacon of resistance for RCB, their valiant effort fell short in chasing down the mammoth target set by Hyderabad.
Although Dinesh Karthik's explosive innings injected hope into RCB's chase, his departure in the penultimate over dashed any lingering aspirations of a miraculous victory. Anuj Rawat's brief cameo in the final over proved insufficient to salvage a win for Bengaluru, highlighting the enormity of the task faced by the batters in pursuit of the daunting target set by Hyderabad.
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This is what rCB captain Faf Du Plesis has to say:
"Proper T20 wicket. It's crazy the amount of runs scored today, a world record. I wouldn't say 270 is par, Danny. It's tough [to bowl on a day like this], we tried a few things and they weren't quite working. It's a sign of confidence in the other group. The game is moving so forward and fast these days from the batters, it's hard. We kept trying different things. There were some errors we need to address in the batting line-up, the dip after the powerplay is something we want to work on. But proud of the way the boys fought tonight till the end, and not fall like a deck of cards. From a bowling perspective it was probably too much. One thing really important is to freshen your mind, it's such a mental game. Sometimes it feels like your mind is going to explode. A little bit of uphill task for us at the moment", said Du Plesis.
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This defeat marked Bengaluru's sixth loss in seven games, leaving them languishing at the bottom of the IPL table. Their struggles, particularly with the ball, underscored the team's underwhelming performance throughout the season. Despite commendable efforts from batsmen like Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis, who set the stage ablaze with a flurry of boundaries, RCB's batting lineup faltered as subsequent batters failed to make significant contributions.