Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore need ‘miracle’ to reach IPL play-offs – Moeen Ali
Moeen Ali admits Royal Challengers Bangalore need a ‘miracle’ to qualify for the Indian Premier League play-offs after their dismal start to the Twenty20 competition.
Virat Kohli’s RCB suffered their sixth successive defeat on Sunday after losing to Delhi Capitals. They are now the only team not to win a game at IPL 2019.
It was another abject display from Bangalore, who could only post 149-8 with Kohli top-scoring with 41 and Moeen contributing 32.
Delhi cruised to victory with seven balls remaining with captain Shreyas Iyer scoring 67.
Heroics from #SkipperShreyas and a solid bowling performance led by @KagisoRabada25 guide us to a win at Chinnaswamy!#ThisIsNewDelhi #DelhiCapitals #RCBvDC #IPL #IPL2019 pic.twitter.com/Als6IqQetU
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) April 7, 2019
‘At the moment it is very frustrating,’ England all-rounder Moeen said after RCB’s latest defeat. ‘We are training hard but not performing as we need to.
‘On the field we are a bit nervous at times and are feeling the pressure. It’s just frustrating as cricketers that we’re making the same mistakes every game.
‘You can’t afford to do that in the IPL.’
Asked to assess Bangalore’s chances for the rest of the tournament, Moeen added: ‘We need to improve and win all of our games, really. We need a miracle, to be honest.’
India captain Kohli cut a frustrated figure after RCB’s defeat to Delhi and said: ‘There’s nothing more you can tell the team. We’ve asked the boys to take responsibility.
‘It hasn’t happened so far, and that’s the reality. We need to play expressive cricket. The team needs to relax, whatever’s in front of us, we need to accept it.
‘We want to enjoy this competition as a team, otherwise we won’t be able to play any good cricket.’
Royal Challengers Bangalore will hope to record their first win of the campaign on Saturday when they face Kings XI Punjab.
