'Every match for us is like a semi-final now': RCB head coach Flower

RCB conceded the highest-ever IPL total—287 for three—as the Hyderabad batters went on a merry ride against their directionless bowlers

After his side’s sixth defeat in seven matches in the ongoing Indian Premier League, Royal Challengers Bengaluru head coach Andy Flower admitted that each of their remaining seven matches from now on will have to be treated like a semi-final.

In the latest setback to their playoff aspirations, RCB went down by 25 runs to the Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Monday after a run-scoring record.

“It is obviously knockout time and every game is like a semi-final for us now. But we will have to think that we will come back stronger,” Flower said on RCB Game Day show.

SRH’s Jaydev Unadkat (second from right) celebrates the dismissal of RCB’s Will Jacks in Bangalore on Monday. Pic/PTI

RCB conceded the highest-ever IPL total—287 for three—as the Hyderabad batters went on a merry ride against their directionless bowlers.

Flower admitted that it was a tough night for his side. “It was a really tough night in the field, of course, as they finished so powerfully that it probably took the wind out of our souls,” he said.

However, Flower found shards of positives during RCB’s chase such as Dinesh Karthik’s superlative 83 off 35 balls and skipper Faf Du Plessis’s 28-ball 62.

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The Zimbabwean wanted to build on them in the coming matches. “I am really proud of the way we fought with the bat out there in the middle. We lost the game, but I was really proud of the way we fought,” said Flower.

The former England coach lauded Karthik for the way he took on the SRH bowlers, and said it would not be surprising if the wicketkeeper-batter made it to India’s T20 World Cup squad. “Dinesh Karthik is really making a push for the World Cup team [India] as well and is only getting better on the field,” he added. 

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