Following a match-winning partnership with AB de Villiers, RCB all-rounder Marcus Stoinis said batting alongside the South African great made his job a lot easier.
Marcus Stoinis (left) and AB de Villiers
Mohali:
The all-rounder had walked in at the fall of skipper Virat Kohli with RCB needing 46 runs off 27 balls. Kohli (67) in company of de Villiers (59 not out) scripted a superb run-chase, sharing a 85-run stand to lay the foundation.
“I am pretty familiar with this ground, I have played here for three years,” said Stoinis at the post-match press conference here.
“The more comforting factor is batting with AB de Villiers, that makes it easier.”
He said that RCB badly needed a win to stay alive in the tournament. “We needed it, it’s good get to two points and get ourselves started,” he said.
After Kohli got out, Stoinis said he had a chat with de Villiers on how to go about the target.
“Make sure to keep head straight, watch the ball, keep it simple and then once you get in think about which balls you want to target,” Stoinis said, referring to the advice from his senior partner.
Stonis also praised the knock played by KXIP opener Chris Gayle.
“Main thing is every team has got world class players and they have got someone like Chris Gayle, who is arguably the best T20 player,” he said.
Praising the effort of RCB bowlers, he said they applied brakes during middle overs claiming wickets at regular intervals, which also ensured that Gayle had to play a controlled innings.
“Make sure you keep coming back and get into contest with every single ball and that’s what our seam bowlers did, they did particularly well. They got hit early but all of them had good spells later and then our spinners controlled through the middle overs as there was a little bit of turn,” said Stoinis.
On the games ahead, he said RCB is not thinking too far ahead.
“We are not thinking about finals. It is just about each game now, we can’t afford to get too far ahead of ourselves.”
Stoinis remained unbeaten on 28, ensuring an eight-wicket win against KXIP, RCB’s maiden victory of the season.
The all-rounder had walked in at the fall of skipper Virat Kohli with RCB needing 46 runs off 27 balls. Kohli (67) in company of de Villiers (59 not out) scripted a superb run-chase, sharing a 85-run stand to lay the foundation.
“I am pretty familiar with this ground, I have played here for three years,” said Stoinis at the post-match press conference here.
“The more comforting factor is batting with AB de Villiers, that makes it easier.”
He said that RCB badly needed a win to stay alive in the tournament. “We needed it, it’s good get to two points and get ourselves started,” he said.
After Kohli got out, Stoinis said he had a chat with de Villiers on how to go about the target.
“Make sure to keep head straight, watch the ball, keep it simple and then once you get in think about which balls you want to target,” Stoinis said, referring to the advice from his senior partner.
Stonis also praised the knock played by KXIP opener Chris Gayle.
“Main thing is every team has got world class players and they have got someone like Chris Gayle, who is arguably the best T20 player,” he said.
Praising the effort of RCB bowlers, he said they applied brakes during middle overs claiming wickets at regular intervals, which also ensured that Gayle had to play a controlled innings.
“Make sure you keep coming back and get into contest with every single ball and that’s what our seam bowlers did, they did particularly well. They got hit early but all of them had good spells later and then our spinners controlled through the middle overs as there was a little bit of turn,” said Stoinis.
On the games ahead, he said RCB is not thinking too far ahead.
“We are not thinking about finals. It is just about each game now, we can’t afford to get too far ahead of ourselves.”
Kohli fined for slow over-rate
Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli has been fined Rs 12 lakh for maintaining a slow-over rate during the Indian Premier League match against Kings XI Punjab here. “As it was his team’s first offence of the season under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over-rate offences, Kohli was fined Rs 12 lakh,” read an IPL statement. RCB finally tasted its maiden win of the season on Saturday after suffering six losses in a row. Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma too were handed a Rs 12 lakh fine for slow over-rate earlier in the competition.