Hyderabad, May 23 (IANS) Andy Flower said the batters at Royal Challengers Bengaluru left it up to them whether they chose to chase the score or just defend their net run rate against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the high scoring loss on Friday which still saw RCB secure the top of the IPL 2026 league table.

Although RCB went on to lose the contest by 55 runs on Friday evening whilst chasing down 255 for the win it was still 200/4 sufficient enough for the team to still be above Gujarat Titans and SRH on the table with a better net run rate securing them top of the league table and a direct shot at qualifier 1.

“We were in a position where we could have kept pushing to chase down 255 but ultimately we got the job done and topped the league. It is quite a difficult position to be put in, when you have got these conflicting things at play, ” he said. “The game is on winning the game to top the league table”.

Flower further explained how he and his players carefully weighed up their qualification scenario during the innings break, “We did discuss the various targets that could be achieved. So I think we needed 166 to confirm top two and 179 to confirm top of the table with clearly 255 to get for the win. I thought Venky [Iyer] batted exceptionally well to start us off and get us going,”

“And we wanted the batsmen to get a feel for the surface out there and make that decision, for themselves about whether they felt they could chase down 255 or 180.”

The total amassed by Sunrisers of 255/4 came as a result of some exceptional innings from Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen and the total of 200/4 for Royal Challengers, that still kept them above their rivals on the table came from a superb 44 from 19 balls for Venky Iyer and a half-century for captain Rajat Patidar.

The praised for Venkatesh from Flower knew no bounds, especially given the limited opportunity he has had throughout this season, “I have got a lot of respect for Venky,” he explained. “He has been waiting patiently for his opportunity and when it came, in either of the roles as an Impact Player where we have really needed some extra batsmen at the death because of a difficult start we have had to the innings or both games where we have now given him an opportunity in Dharamsala batting at number four and here opening the innings he has gone on to take them and that is why he deserves his opportunity”.

The coach spoke of the great attitude and professionalism that the seasoned pro has shown during the course of the season, “I have a lot of respect for a man that has played a lot of IPL cricket and for India and was sitting on the side for three or four weeks and not being given a chance. He has been out in that dugout and there hasn’t been a change in his disposition and every single practice session has been worked very, very hard at, his bowling, his fielding and his batting and it has just been exemplary to be brutally honest, ” Flower concluded.

The later part of the evening also saw the surface slow down significantly making for harder work on the balls with good length and slow spin.

It was exactly the surface that SRH expected though when opting to bat first with coach Daniel Vettori explaining, “I think it was exactly how we anticipated and that’s exactly why we batted first,” Vettori said. “I think it was like a Punjab wicket in the sense that you could score loads but like that Punjab game RCB had put dropped a lot of catches that allowed us to really overperform with the total as opposed to what it looked like. But you felt 200 to 220 should have been a very good total at that surface”.

Vettori mentioned how he and his team have been consistent with their selection policies over the last three years regardless of having very few tosses win at their disposal and highlighted the attacking play from his openers against his former player Bhuvneshwar Kumar as the key to his sides success, “I think you have seen our openers play 14 games for 3 years,” he said. “They are going to attack whoever it is, and it is not swinging there, so that negates the majority percentage of what Bhuvi does and he has been an exceptional bowler for all of his sides and he has had a magnificent season with us as well so in order to win a game like this, you are always going to have to have a go at one of your most economical operators, and that’s how we played today and it came off.”

Royal Challengers will face Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1 on May 26 while SRH play the fourth-placed team in the Eliminator on May 27.

–IANS

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