Just a couple of weeks back, the Royal Challengers Bangalore were languishing at the bottom of the eight-team IPL table after losing their first six games in the 12th season.
However, after their 17-run win on Wednesday night over Kings XI Punjab, their third on the trot, they have now officially got out of the basement with eight points notched up so far.
The architects of the win at the Chinnaswamy Stadium were AB de Villiers and Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis, who put up a 121-run partnership for the fifth wicket between them. Coming together at 81/4, the situation was once again looking grim for the home side but the AB-Stoinis duo turned things around sensationally, slamming 64 runs in the last three overs to help RCB post a match-winning total of 202/4.
“Big part was to not lose another wicket at that stage. So we needed to make sure we needed to take the game to the end. We decided that at the end of the innings, the last 24 balls was good chance to score a lot of runs,” Stoinis, who remained unbeaten on 46 off 34 balls, said after the game on Wednesday.
While Stoinis had the best seat in the house, the star of the show was former South Africa batsman De Villiers, who smashed a 44-ball 82.
“AB de Villiers is a superstar and showed once again how good he is. It was definitely the best seat in the house,” the 29-year-old West Australian said.
It has been a remarkable turnaround for RCB, who are currently the only team in the recent weeks to have won three successive games.
“Cricket is a type of game that often there are only little things that you need to change. Once you lose a couple of games, you play not to lose rather than playing to win. I think it takes certain individuals to turn things around and we have found those guys, then we started winning some close games as well which gave us a lot of confidence.
“We all know we are good players. If you bring the right attitude to the ground every single time then it gives you the best chance of winning,” Stoinis said about the RCB turnaround.
The Royal Challengers’ next game will be against Delhi Capitals at the Ferozeshah Kotla in New Delhi on Sunday but Stoinis is not looking too far ahead and worrying about qualification for the playoffs.
“I hope we don’t change anything to be honest. I am not sure what the equations are to make the final, there’s not much we can do apart from winning games. Now we go to Delhi and look to see if we can win that. We are probably fortunate to be in a position that we can’t think too far ahead but just go express yourself and have fun,” Stoinis said about the next fixture.
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