[Watch]"Certainly plenty of things to work on" - Mike Hesson on RCB's defeat in their first IPL 2022 fixture
Director of Cricket Operations Mike Hesson reflected on Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) loss against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their IPL 2022 opener. The three-time finalists were unable to defend 205 against an explosive PBKS batting unit.
Newly-appointed captain Faf du Plessis had an RCB debut to remember with the bat. The Proteas ace scored 88 runs and was well backed by an anchoring innings from Virat Kohli (41 not out) and an explosive cameo from Dinesh Karthik (32 not out).
However, the new-look RCB bowling attack could not assert enough pressure on the opposition batting, as they comfortably dealt with the asking rate.
#PBKSvRCB Game Day Review
Mike Hesson reviewed the RCB performance & chose the @kreditbee Kredible player of the match, after a tough night where we came 2nd despite playing some good cricket. Earlier, Virat presented the RCB caps to our 5 debutants.
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Opining that the bowling attack was far from executing their plans, Hesson said in a video posted by the team's social media handles:
"It got easier to bat as things went on. With the ball, we were just a little bit off in terms of executing the plans we had in place. Obviously, we missed the wide line and we just did not execute it how well we need to."
Hesson added:
"So, certainly plenty of things to work on. Really good things from a batting point of view."
In the same video, Virat Kohli was seen handing the maiden caps to five franchise debutants ahead of the contest. Akash Deep, Anuj Rawat, Faf du Plessis, Sherfane Rutherford and David Willey made their debuts for RCB against PBKS.
Predicatably, chasing has been the formula behind success in IPL 2022 so far. Dew has been a constant presence across all IPL 2022 venues in Maharashtra, especially in the second innings. All three matches of this year's tournament so far have seen the chasing side take the points.
Click here to view the orange cap in IPL 2022.
"I thought RCB fought really well with the bat" - Mike Hesson
The opening pair of Faf du Plessis and Anuj Rawat had to take their time settling in. With the powerplay only yielding 41 runs, the duo had to accelerate in the middle overs.
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We dust off, buck up and go again. 👊🏻
Have a great Monday, 12th Man Army! 🙌🏻
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While Anuj Rawat perished against Rahul Chahar, the remainder of the batting unit stepped up to score 135 runs in the final 10 overs.
Praising the efforts of du Plessis, Kohli and Karthik with the bat, Hesson said:
"I thought we fought really well with the bat, it was a little bit tough in the first 10 overs, was a little sticky. The fact we got through and lost just the one wicket, gave us a chance to increase the momentum post the time out. We saw some exceptional batting from Faf, Virat and DK, to get us to a really good score."
Kohli looked in fine touch during his unbeaten 41 off 29 balls. Karthik played his role to perfection with an explosive 14-ball cameo in the death overs.
Beginning their IPL 2022 schedule with a loss, the three-time finalists will next face the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the same venue. The match is slated to take place on March 30.