Chris Jordan was the stand-out bowler for the Royal Challengers Bangalore last night, with his career best performance of 4 for 11. After the match, he lauded the champion duo of AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli for their match-winning knocks of 129 not out off 52 and 109 off 55 respectively.
"Coming into a team of this calibre, I was hoping something like that would happen, hoping I'd be able to witness something like that live."
"What a performance! They really showed their class today. They went through the gears. When they needed to take a single, they took a single. When it was time to go, they went. I don't think they mis-hit a ball, which was phenomenal. They really set the game up for us bowlers to go and express ourselves and take the wickets we did," he said.
Also read: AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli reveal their mid-pitch chat during the record-breaking partnership
Several records were broken, and new records set on a stifling Saturday afternoon as Kohli and de Villiers took up the charge to take Bangalore home and stay in the run for the playoffs. They stunned Gujarat Lions by smashing 229 runs off just 96 balls to set them a target of 248 to chase down.
The bowlers responded wonderfully by bowling out the Lions for 104 and winning the match by a record 144 runs.
The Chinnaswamy stadium is famously known as a batsmen’s paradise and bowler’s graveyard. The world got a glimpse of the same last evening, as the RCB batsmen had an answer for all the Lions’ bowlers. Chris Jordan said that he is lucky to be playing alongside the top-two best batsmen in the world right now, and not bowling to them.
"Who knows? You just have to back your plans, and hopefully execute. They had every answer for the Gujarat Lions bowlers.
“To see that hitting live, it was so clean, there was dexterity about it, there was class about it, and sheer, brute force as well. They went through their repertoire of shots today and gave everyone watching a treat," said the English-pacer.
Chris Jordan says Gayle has a wow-factor
Jordan, who was signed by RCB as a replacement for the Australian fast-bowler Mitchell Starc for this season, was not at his best in the first-three games for RCB, conceding 132 runs for one wicket at an economy rate of 12. Even after his four-wicket haul against Gujarat last night, he said he wants to improve his pace and precision.
"I set quite high standards for myself. It's important not to get too high or too low, and stay as emotionally stable as possible because you can bowl even better and go the distance, which I probably did in the first three games.
"I can only take what I got today, and take the confidence into the next game. I need to improve on precision and temperament. I don't think I'm back to my best as yet," as reported by ESPN.
The explosive West Indian batsman Chris Gayle has not made it past single-digit figures in his five outings this season, with a highest score of 7. Jordan defended his teammate saying it will take Gayle just one good innings to shut down his critics.
"I don't see much wrong with him at all. His emotions are always consistent. He's one performance away from everyone forgetting how his IPL has gone so far. He has that wow-factor about him.
“He can play one innings and score 100 off 50 balls. Everyone will talk about that for the rest of their lives. He's a strong character."
