IPL 2020: 'It was one of those days when we didn't get our skills absolutely right' - AB de Villiers on RCB's loss against DC

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batsman AB de Villiers has mentioned that it was a bad day at the office for the team against the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2020 yesterday. The former South African captain said that RCB couldn't make the best use of their abilities.

He made this observation during the post-match press conference after the Virat Kohli-led side's crushing defeat against the current table-toppers.

AB de Villiers credited the Delhi Capitals openers for giving their team a flying start in the powerplay, but pointed out that RCB ended up conceding way too many runs.

"196 I felt was definitely over par. You have got to give credit to them. They started very well in the first 6 overs. We did well to pull it back and I felt we were very slow to adapt with our defensive bowling."

He highlighted the RCB bowlers' inability to adjust to the conditions, which resulted in the Delhi Capitals score being about 20 runs above par.

"It was one of those wickets where you needed to utilise the conditions, bowl it into the deck to get a bit of purchase out of it. Unfortunately, because of that we leaked about 20 runs over par."

De Villiers, who is keeping wickets for RCB, added that it was an off-day for the team, with dropped catches and misfields letting them down.

"It was one of those days when we didn't get our skills absolutely right. We dropped a catch and a little bit of slackness in the field as well, couple of fumbles here and there which cost us ultimately 20-30 runs which could have been a difference when we batted."

The 36-year-old observed that RCB did not have a great time with the bat as well, thereby making it an all-round bad day for them.

"We didn't bat well at all tonight. So, just a bad day at the office."

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AB de Villiers on RCB's decision to field first

RCB were unable to string together a decent partnership

AB de Villiers was also asked about RCB's decision to field first after winning the toss. He responded that their decision was governed by the ease with which the Chennai Super Kings chased down a target on the same pitch the previous day, as well as the hammering they themselves received in the end overs against the Mumbai Indians.

"The last game Chennai won chasing. We played against Mumbai our last game here. We got a very good total of 200 plus and Mumbai were very close to chasing that down."

He lamented the absence of dew on the night while adding that it was not an excuse for the failures of the RCB batsmen.

"It wasn't as dewy tonight, I don't think it really got wet in the 2nd innings at all which is not an excuse, as I said we didn't bat well tonight and never strung together any partnerships."

AB de Villiers signed off by acknowledging that RCB were outplayed by the Delhi Capitals, with the conditions being fair to both the teams.

"But we were expecting it to get a bit wet which would have made it very difficult for the Delhi bowlers. It was a fair game, it was dry throughout the 40 overs of cricket and they were the better team today."

Post Match Press Conference: RCB v DCAB de Villiers addressed the media after the game against the Delhi Capitals. #PlayBold #IPL2020 #WeAreChallengers #Dream11IPL #RCBvDC pic.twitter.com/Ates5Ap4ay

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) October 6, 2020

RCB were never in the race to chase down the 197-run target that the Delhi Capitals set for them. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals to be restricted to a score of 137/9 in their allotted 20 overs, thereby losing the match by a whopping 59 runs.

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