In yet another electrifying match of IPL 2024, a staggering total of 549 runs lit up the scoreboard in just 40 overs as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) emerged victorious over Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday. Tasked with chasing down the highest total ever recorded in Indian Premier League (IPL) history, a formidable 289 runs, the home team could only score 262/7 at the end of 20 overs.
Reflecting on the match, RCB skipper Faf du Plessis remarked on the mental intensity of the game, expressing the overwhelming pressure.
“It's important to go away and refresh your mind, it's such a mental game. Sometimes you feel your mind is going to explode. When you get back to the contest you have to give full commitment,” said Faf at the post-match presentation.
Faf du Plessis, who contributed a blistering 62 runs off just 28 balls, acknowledged the challenges faced by RCB's pacers on the pitch. Additionally, he emphasised the need for improvement in the team's batting department.
“There's no way to hide when your confidence is low. The fast bowlers found it quite difficult out there. Similar to the batting perspective, we need to work on a few areas. Need to make sure the run rate doesn't go down after powerplay,” he said.
The 39-year-old also reckoned while the batters showed improvement compared to previous matches, the target they were chasing remained considerably out of reach.
“Much better from us, that was a proper T20 wicket. Just tried to get close in the end, but 280 was very far. It's tough. We tried a few things, we tried different things,” he said.
“The guys put up their hands and never gave up. It was good to see the fight, 30-40 runs from the bowling perspective was a bit too much,” he concluded.
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