Virat Kohli slams RCB after KKR loss: 'We handed them victory, we did deserve to lose'

An irked Virat Kohli slammed Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) after their second loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Wednesday.

Chasing KKR's target of 201, RCB fell short by 21 runs and suffered their fourth defeat in the IPL 2023. Apart from Kohli and Mahipal Lomror, no other RCB batter made any significant contribution. RCB's stand-in skipper Kohli stated that his side was just a partnership away from clinching the game at Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday.

Kohli and Faf du Plessis yet again gave a flying start to RCB, but the latter fell after early explosives. Du Plessis struck two sixes and a four in his knock of 17 off seven balls before falling to KKR spinner Suyash Sharma. Kohli, on the other hand, went on to record his fifth half-century of IPL 2023. RCB had hopes until the former India captain was at the crease, who eventually was dismissed in the 13th over.

Kohli hit six fours in his knock of 54 off 37 balls. He put up 55 runs with Lomror, who scored an 18-ball 34, including three sixes and a four.

Speaking at the post-match presentation, Kohli admitted that RCB failed to capitalise on their chances.

"To be honest we handed them the game. We did deserve to lose. We handed them a victory. We were certainly not up to standard. If you look at the game, we didn't capitalize our chances. We dropped a few chances which cost us 25-30 runs. We set up ourselves really well. We ended up hitting the fielder to balls which weren't wicket taking.

"It is what's on the scoreboard and how to get them. Even while chasing, despite losing wickets we were one partnership away from being in the game. We needed one partnership to get us home. We need to be switched on and not give away soft plays. We have won one and lost one on the road. It is not something that is making us nervous. We need to win some away games to be in good shape for the later stages of the tournament," added Kohli.

The top two players in the Orange Cap race are from RCB: du Plessis (422 runs) and Kohli (333 runs), with both scoring five fifties each.

Prior to their trip to Bangalore, KKR had lost four consecutive games. So a win over the Bengaluru side turned out to be a morale booster for the two-time champions.

Nitish Rana heaps praise on Suyash Sharma

KKR captain Nitish Rana praised his side, saying the" belief has always been there that we'll bounce back."

"Last 3-4 matches I've been saying the same thing at the toss - if we play well collectively, the result will be in our favour. You need a lot of character in the dressing room to give a performance like this in our situation. The belief has always been there that we'll bounce back.

"We wanted to put a score on the board. Felt like it would turn in the second innings because there wasn't much dew. It didn't turn a lot but we bowled well. Whenever I've spoken to him (Suyash Sharma), he has always put his hand up. He always says I'll do the job. We tell him to not look at who is batting against you, just focus on your own bowling," added Rana.

KKR head back home to host Gujarat Titans (GT) at Eden Gardens on Saturday. RCB, meanwhile have a four-day break, before their away fixture against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on May 1.