Maxi's innings was the difference for us: Virat Kohli on win against SRH

Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad in a nail-biting encounter on Wednesday. For the second time against the same opponents, it was a ‘comeback and a half'. It was Hyderabad who won the toss and put the RCB to bat first. 

It was not the ideal wicket to bat on. Glenn Maxwell's brilliant half-century under pressure helped the Bengaluru-based side post 149. Despite losing wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha early in the innings, SRH started well. During the post-match presentation, RCB captain Virat Kohli spoke about the challenging conditions at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, and how the previous match inspired them to restrict the chasers.

“Not as exhausted as I am proud (of the team). It was a top game for us, the wicket is going to get challenging, we saw that yesterday (during KKR vs MI match). You are never really out of the game in these conditions. We have more bowling options and those extra bowling options made those impact performances in the middle overs,” Virat Kohli told Mark Nicholas at the post-match presentation.

“I told the guys don't think that we struggled to get to 149. I believed we could win with 150. If it was tough for us, it will be tough for them as well. Chasing under pressure and you lose wickets, the game can swing anywhere,” he added.

Maxwell’s knock made the difference says, Captain Kohli

“The wicket was never a belter and our execution under pressure was spot on. It kept getting tougher and tougher with the old ball. I tried to build the momentum with few boundaries in the powerplay. I think Maxi's innings was the difference for us. To be very honest, we are not over-excited with wins this season. We have clarity of plans,” he stated.

On Harshal Patel’s new role

“We traded Harshal (Patel) from Delhi (Capitals), gave him a specific role and he's doing an outstanding job for us. We are taking one game at a time, we are enjoying playing with each other. Need to be professional and do the job on the field,” Kohli concluded.