IPL 2018: A bitter pill to swallow, says disappointed Quinton de Kock

Bengaluru, April 26: Royal Challengers Bangalore wicketkeeper batsman Quinton de Kock termed the defeat against Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday (April 25) a bitter pill to swallow and emphasised on the need to comeback stronger.

"It's mixed emotions at the moment. I think us and CSK both played really well. But at the end of the day, you don't want to be on the losing side. (It's) a tough pill to swallow. We need to go back, look at the drawing board. Look at everything, talk about it and come back better," said De Kock in the post match press do.

(WATCH DE KOCK PRESSER HERE)

RCB had bowled out Yuzvendra Chahal and Umesh Yadav - their best bowlers on Wednesday night - and De Kock explained the rationale behind the thinking.

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"To be a death bowler is the toughest job you can have in the IPL. Siraj - I was standing back and I thought he bowled unbelievably well. His last two overs to (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu were really good. Unfortunately, Dhoni hit one or two good shots. But that's the way it is," he said.

Detailing further, De Kock said the RCB were looking to pick up as many early wickets as possible.

The batsmen impressed but the bowlers couldn't quite hold their nerve in the death. Read our #RCBvCSK match report ➡️ https://t.co/X6SYJdtO9F #PlayBold pic.twitter.com/BK015NIl2R

— Royal Challengers (@RCBTweets) April 26, 2018

"We were looking to get early wickets, which we did too. We got some quick wickets and then our bowlers were trying to pick up one or two more wickets. Obviously, the name of the game against Chennai is to pick up wickets early or they will bat you out in 20 overs.

"That's how long and good their batting line-up is. So we gave ourselves the best chance and tried to pick as many wickets we could," he said.

The South African said margin of error in the T20 format is too narrow and Corey Anderson, who went for plenty including 16 in the final over, was trying to explore the off-stump channel.

Good batting, not so good end-overs bowling. It's time reflect where it all went wrong. Take a look at how the #RCB players fared in the game against CSK ➡️ https://t.co/zrXW3UElgD #PlayBold pic.twitter.com/78C4ULx0NL

— Royal Challengers (@RCBTweets) April 26, 2018

"The one problem is that you cannot quite bowl into the legs when you have got the short boundary and the two right-handers in. So if they were going to hit us, we were trying to make sure they hit us to the longer boundary, not to the shorter boundary.

"That was the thinking. We thought our thinking was spot on but when you have got a guy like Dhoni, he knows how to outwit bowlers at the death," he added.

However, De Kock was happy about the fact that batsmen were able to put on board a par for the course total.

It's time to back the boys than ever!

We are sure that the boys will come back stronger like how they have done in the past & we will always back @RCBTweets whatever the results are!

Because we are a family and always will remain to be one! ❤️😇 #PlayBold

Image Courtsey:BCCI pic.twitter.com/qNuueczxOr

— RCB Bold Brigade (@BoldBrigade) April 25, 2018

"We actually thought we were on par. We were speaking about 200. We got the total we wanted. Unfortunately, one or two wickets during the middle phase meant we couldn't get to a higher total. But we were perfectly happy with our score. We just thought it was just a bit more than par. So, happy with that," he signed off.