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After losing four consecutive matches, Royal Challengers Bangalore needed both its experienced batsmen, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, to fire against KKR. They did fire as they scored half-centuries and took take their side past 200 and gave them a good chance.
RCB bowlers did well till the sixteenth over by taking wickets regularly but what happened next was unfathomable. Andre Russell blasted 48 runs off just 13 balls and took his side to victory with five balls to spare.
Here's how the World reacted to RCB's fifth loss of IPL 2019:
Virat Kohli, Royal Challengers Bangalore captain: The last four overs that we bowled was just unacceptable. We needed to be more clever as nothing came off and we just cracked under pressure. That's been our story this season so far.
If you bowl with not enough bravery in the crucial overs, it's always going to be difficult against power-hitters like Russell. I wasn't really happy getting out at that moment, could've got 20-25 more.
AB didn't get much strike in the end. I thought the runs were enough on the board, we didn't have enough composure. If you can't defend 75 in the last four overs, then I don't know if you can defend 100. We can have a bit of chat about what went wrong, apart from that nothing much you can say.
I don't think talking enough helps all the time. You need to give the guys some space and come back stronger in the next game. It's been a disappointing season so far, but we are still optimistic about our chances. We just have to believe in ourselves that we can turn things around.
Dinesh Karthik, Kolkata Knight Riders: Those kinds of knocks, you don't talk much. We trust him as a player. It's important to give him an atmosphere where he's happy and he just keeps performing. Yeah, it was hard to play strokes against spinners with the ball gripping but was easier against the fast bowlers. I think as much as well he batted, it's time we all started to bowl better and help the batters. It was nice to see Lynny bat like that and take responsibility.
Chris Lynn: We keep putting him in tough situations and he keeps lifting his game. He is just too good. 215 was probably par on that wicket. Both teams gave opportunities. We dropped Kohli and ABD and RCB also dropped a couple of chances. We had luck on our side. Change of fortune for us. It is unbelievable and entertaining for us. He keeps doing it. He is a billion dollar man for KKR.
Andre Russell, Man of the Match: I was confident when I went out to bat. DK was telling me to take a few balls to see how the pitch is behaving. I was watching in the dugout on TV and had a fair idea. When you need 68 off 20-odd balls, it doesn't happen every day. Need to put your body on the line.
The nature of T20 is such that one over can change the momentum. That's why I never give up. A part of me was saying that the runs needed were too much but I wanted to fight and eventually, we won with five balls spare. The support is good from the boys and I am in a good space so that I can express myself.
Virender Sehwag:
Harsha Bhogle:
Kevin Pietersen:
Albie Morkel:
Gaurav Kapur:
Ayaz Menon:
Mohammad Kaif:
Harbhajan Singh:
Anjum Chopra:
Dean Jones:
Sam Billings:
Cameron Delport:
Gutta Jwala:
Ranveer Singh:
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