DD vs RCB: AB de Villiers Staggering Knock Keeps the hope alive for Bangalore

Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers came to the rescue of Royal Challengers Bangalore to seal five-wicket win over bottom-placed Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2018 at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground

AB de Villiers (Man of the Match): “To be honest with you it felt a bit weird tonight. Luckily Mishy bowled me one full ball out there and luckily I got it away and that kick started my innings. I started off slowly, luckily Virat was going well at the other end. Started feeling much better after 10-15 balls. It’s admirable to see youngsters come here and perform well (talking about Lamichhane), very happy to be a part of a tournament like this. We play for a proud franchise, the management and my team-mates and that is what motivates me.”

Virat Kohli: “The table is wide open. It is the right time to get a win for us. It was a great feeling playing in front of a big crowd. Surprising to see so much support for us in Delhi. Again not a clinical show with the ball. We should have restricted them to maximum 160, but they played really well. At this stage of the tournament, maybe we will prefer bowling first because the batsmen can take more responsibility and chase down every total. We understand teams don’t want to let us win now. Ask the opposition team to get the runs and tell them we are coming after it. That’s what works for our team and it really motivates us. I wasn’t happy with the way we finished with the ball, but AB told me in the innings break that we can do this and that is what helped me get into the zone and then I let my instincts take over. It’s an honour for me to bat with AB. We were looking to finish it with a few more overs to spare to help the net run rate, but the two points are very important.”

Shreyas Iyer: With the kind of start we got, getting to 180 I thought was more than enough. Unfortunately we weren’t able to defend this as well; we aren’t executing the plans we form in the dressing room. I don’t feel the pressure of captaincy at all. Today was one of those bad days when I couldn’t time the ball well at all. The only thing you can do to handle pressure is by scoring regularly. I have a few coaches and mentors whose inputs I take regularly. I wouldn’t like to take their names, just in case I forget someone. We are already making 3-4 changes in every game and we are hoping to set up our team for the next season.