Royal Challengers Bangalore had a great chance to qualify for the top 2 positions after the Gujarat Titans failed to win their match against the Lucknow Super Giants. However, they also lost their match to SRH as they failed to chase a mammoth target of 231. Heartbroken by the loss, Phil Salt gave his opinion after a critical moment in the tournament.
In the post-match press conference, the Englishman tried to take the loss positively. He stated that although the entire team hated the fact that they lost the game, they would prefer to take the loss before the playoffs. Salt further added that they were going to deeply analyze what went wrong during the match against the 2016 champions.
Salt admitted that he hadn’t played cricket for a month due to illness. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru opener joked about taking things for granted when he was healthy and said he was just glad to be on the field once again. While talking about the loss against Hyderabad, he stated that they did many things right during the chase, but unfortunately, the margin for error was fine that day.
“You’d rather have that now than in an eliminator. I’m just glad that I’m healthy and feeling good.”
Phil Salt in the post-match press conference
Talking about the match itself, Hyderabad batted first and scored 231 runs, thanks to Ishan Kishan’s 94. RCB were well on their way to chasing the total down, with Salt and Virat Kohli firing on all cylinders once again, scoring 62 and 43, respectively. At one point, the Bengaluru side looked well in control, with only 3 wickets down and needing 65 runs in the last 5 overs. However, they suffered one of the worst collapses in history and lost all of their wickets for just 16 runs.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s top 2 hopes are still alive after Punjab Kings’ loss against Delhi Capitals
The fans who were upset with the Bengaluru side’s loss against SRH can now breathe a sigh of relief. Just like them, PBKS also squandered the opportunity to confirm a top 2 spot after losing to DC. With that loss, the three-time finalists still have a chance to finish in one of the priceless top 2 positions.
All the qualified teams have one game in hand. While MI and PBKS will play against each other, RCB will face LSG for the first time this season. Meanwhile, the Titans have the easiest opponents—at least for this season—in the form of CSK. Rajat Patidar and co. can finish in the top 2 in a couple of scenarios.
In the first scenario, Royal Challengers Bengaluru has to hope that both GT and PBKS lose their final matches. Assuming they win against Lucknow, they will become the only team to finish on 19 points. While GT and MI will finish on 18 points, Punjab will finish on 17. In the second scenario, even if Gujarat wins against CSK, the three-time finalists have to hope that Mumbai beats Punjab. In that case, Gujarat will finish the season on top, followed by RCB on 19 points.