Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Phil Salt on Friday said a well laid out plan to attack Chennai Super Kings in the PowerPlay was crucial in his team picking its first victory at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium since 2008.
Salt’s early surge where he scored 32 runs off just 16 deliveries helped RCB to 56 runs in the first six overs and laid the platform for a big score.
“It’s been made very clear to me why I am here at RCB. What they are looking for [from me] at the start to partner with Virat. So the dynamics of the partnership I am very aware of and it is to be aggressive and take the pressure of the rest of the guys. Especially when you come to a place like that, if you do not take advantage of those early seam overs then you can be left to face the spinners who can really take control of the game. It was key here,” Salt said at the post-match press conference.
The Royal Challengers’ pacers then consolidated the advantage that its batters established in the first innings, and made the most of the sticky nature of the wicket, a departure from the trend of spinners dominating at the venue.
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“When you come to Chennai you expect something on the slower side. I think that’s what we ended up getting, as the game went on it got a little more two-paced and a little harder to get across. It spun a little but not as much as wickets here will later in the tournament. So, it was good to come here and get away with a win,” Salt said.
Salt lauded his captain Rajat Patidar’s unrelenting approach which got the team to a 50-run triumph. Patidar also anchored RCB’s innings with a half-century to ensure it posted 196, a total which would prove too steep for CSK.
“He is brilliant in all areas. The batting is right up there with anyone else. I have not seen anyone hit spin the way he can and he obviously rode his luck a little tonight but that is the way, you get that in patches.
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“And then you come to his captaincy. He’s a cool head; he’s calm under pressure; he’s got a very good cricket brain and he thinks about the game deeply. The way he spun the bowlers around tonight to make sure that we keep the pressure up at all times, there’s not much more you can ask for,” Salt said.
RCB now sits at the top of the points table with two wins out of two and a healthy Net Run Rate, marking an ideal start to the season as it tries to win its first trophy.
“To win the first two games of the tournament is where you want to be. But to beat the champions in their home ground and then to come here, which is a very, very tough place to come and get a win, we’re really happy with the fact that we’re sitting two games, four points with a boost to the Net Run Rate as well,” Salt said.