"Got going with a few soft boundaries. Both my sweeps were not off the middle. Pleased with our performance. If we look at RPS's batting lineup, it's all class. Perera kept us on our toes. He's a very dangerous player but happy that we crossed the line," says AB.
"That was closer than we thought at one stage, but it was a good game and we're happy to cross the line. You can never relax in the field especially with the likes of power hitters like Perera. AB just asked me to stay calm, and Watson bowled a brilliant over under pressure. I wasn't too happy with myself after my innings, and I thought I should have used fewer balls. AB made me feel a bit better while batting. It wasn't an easy wicket to bat on. AB is the best batsmen of our generation and there is always a lot to learn from him," says Virat Kohli, the RCB captain.
"We lost three wickets for nothing. Faf got out, Pietersen got injured and Smith got run out. A few runs would have been good. Unfortunately we couldn't win, but there are a lot of positives to take from the game. KP's injury gives us the opportunity to try out Albie Morkel and Mitchell Marsh. I personally feel that we can improve in all three departments," says the RPSG captain, MS Dhoni.
RPS never really looked to be in the game after the early wickets of Faf and Smith and the injury to Pietersen. It was only when Perera started to hit some blows towards the end that they looked to be in contention. But the total was too big for the Pune to achieve.
19.6 Kane Richardson to Ankit Sharma, 1 run, backs away, gets the inside edge through to the keeper and they get a single. They win, RCB bat first and they WIN here by 13 runs!
19.4 Kane Richardson to M Ashwin, OUT! What a catch by AB! Murugan backs away, gets the ball of the splice of the bat to AB at long off. Two in two! Once again, the bowler is on a hattrick in the final over of an innings as Richardson gets Murugan Ashwin now. AB was twisting and turning while running back, but such is the athleticism of AB de Villiers that he took it easily.
19.3 Kane Richardson to Rajat Bhatia, OUT! Short slow ball and Bhatia wanted to pull that away but finds Shane Watson on the circle at square leg who takes the catch. You can't take Watson out of the game. You simply can't!
19.2 Kane Richardson to Rajat Bhatia, 2 runs, full ball and timed sweetly again but this time there is AB who covers ground slides and saves the ball at long off.
19.1 Kane Richardson to Rajat Bhatia, 2 runs, full ball ond Bhatia slaps it over cover, but they can get only a brace. Harshal Patel does extremely well at the deep cover fence to keep it down to just two!
Watson has delivered when it mattered the most. Experience has paid off. Two crucial wickets in one over, and the game swings again. It was just the game that IPL needed, especially after the one-sided chases that we'd seen over the past few games.
18.5 Shane Watson to R Ashwin, OUT! On a length and Ashwin sits back and swats that across but finds Harshal Patel stationed perfectly at deep mid-wicket. Big dent for RPS.
A gem of an innings comes to an end from Perera. 34 runs off just 13 balls. Has he swung the game decisively in Pune's favour? Ravi Ashwin walks in to bat.
18.3 Shane Watson to Thisara Perera, OUT, full ball on off and Perera looks to smash that, gets the bottom of the bat and lobs to Mandeep at short cover. Big sigh of relief for the RCB. Can RPS still believe?
18.1 Shane Watson to Rajat Bhatia, 2 runs, massive massive edge, goes up miles in the air, Rahul runs back and drops it. What is happening here? It was an easy catch for Sarfaraz who was coming in from fine leg, but was very difficult for KL Rahul who was running back. They almost collided there, and the catch went begging.
Perera has done a Dhoni here! At least, he's doing one here. What incredible striking in that over by the Sri Lankan all-rounder. 25 runs came off that over.
