Cricket-Du Plessis to sleep better after Bengaluru end losing streak

FILE PHOTO: Cricket – Third International Twenty20 – South Africa v England – Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town, South Africa – December 1, 2020 South Africa’s Faf du Plessis hits a six REUTERS/Sumaya Hisham

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The playoffs remain a distant dream for struggling Royal Challengers Bengaluru but captain Faf du Plessis said he will sleep better after his team snapped their six-match losing streak in the Indian Premier League on Thursday.

The 35-run victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad was just Bengaluru’s second win in nine matches and they remain rooted to the bottom of the 10-team league.

Despite their struggles, they still have a shot at a top-four finish that would give them the chance to win their first IPL title, and du Plessis said getting their second win would give them a boost.

“We’ve been close for a while but you need to win matches to get confidence back in the group,” he said at the presentation ceremony.

“It’s a massive relief. No matter where we are, when you’re not winning it does affect you, it does affect you mentally, it does affect your confidence. I will sleep a bit easier tonight.”

With only Virat Kohli delivering consistently with the bat and a bowling unit which has looked pedestrian at times this season, Bengaluru needed a much improved performance if they were to win at third-placed Hyderabad.

And they got it, with Rajat Patidar smashing his second successive fifty of the tournament and Cameron Green following his unbeaten 37 with two wickets and a crucial catch that sent back the dangerous Heinrich Klaasen.

“You can’t speak confidence into the group, you can’t fake confidence into the group. The only thing that gives confidence is performance,” former South Africa skipper du Plessis said.

“We have got more guys scoring runs now. For the first half of the tournament only it was only Virat contributing.

“Rajat playing two really good innings back-to-back, Greeny (Green) getting runs, it’s massive for him just to get that load off his shoulders.

“It’s important as a batting line-up to contribute together because we have seen the scores are so big, it’s never going to be just one guy scoring the runs.”

(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Peter Rutherford)