Captain Faf du Plessis was proud of RCB’s performance and how they bounced back to reach the playoffs as he reflected on the team’s journey after their defeat in the IPL 2024 Eliminator against RR in Ahmedabad. However, RCB suffered a 4-wicket loss to RR in a thrilling match at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on May 22, Wednesday as well. A game that gave a nail-biting situation in the 2nd innings saw RR chasing a 179-run target with 6 balls in hand.

Faf du Plessis, while speaking to the broadcasters, said, “With the dew coming in, we thought we were short with the bat. Needed a few more runs to make it more competitive. Credit to the boys for fighting it out. If you look at naturally assessing the pitch, it looked like a 180-pitch. But we found out this season, with the one extra batter and long line-ups, it can be challenging. We knew we had to score more to challenge them.”

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However, RCB were put to bat first and they could not manage to build any solid partnerships throughout the innings and ended with a below-par total of 178 runs as well. After a solid start, RR stumbled in the chase mid-way through the innings as they were reduced to 112 for 4. However, Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer’s 45-run stand helped RR win.

“A lot of teams would have, their wheels would have fallen off after 1 from 9. But we made sure to gave our best and to come back like that – six games in a row – takes a lot of heart. We weren’t special tonight in terms of pushing the extra runs,” Faf du Plessis concluded.