LUCKNOW: Royal Challengers Bengaluru opener Phil Salt believes their defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad could serve as a useful wake-up call before the Indian Premier League play-offs. He said it was better to suffer such a loss in the league stage rather than in an eliminator.
Chasing a daunting target of 232, the RCB opening duo of Salt (62) and Virat Kohli (43) provided a blistering start. However, the rest of the batting line-up faltered, and they were bowled out for 189 in 19.5 overs.
RCB have already secured a spot in the play-offs, and Salt insisted that the defeat should not shake their confidence.
"That's one way of looking at it. The other way of looking at it is, you don't mind having this game not in the playoffs. So, yeah, you can take it as a disappointment or you can take it for what it is," he said at the post-match press conference.
"We're qualified, we've lost a game. No one likes to lose games of cricket. I'm hating the fact we've lost, as will everybody else in an RCB shirt. You'd rather have that now than you would in an eliminator, let's say.
"So, we're going to get an opportunity to pick the bones out of it and have a look at things we did well and things we didn't do so well and come back."
Following the loss, RCB’s hopes of a top-two finish now rest on the outcomes of other matches. Even a win in their final league game against Lucknow Super Giants will only take them to 19 points.
Salt said the team is not overly concerned about their final league position.
"I can't sit here and tell you that we prefer to finish first, second, third or fourth. We've qualified for the playoffs, and once you're in the playoffs, you've got to go and play in a carefree manner and do what you can to win the trophy," he said.
Salt had missed RCB's match against Chennai Super Kings on May 3 due to a fever. The IPL was subsequently paused for a week owing to the India-Pakistan conflict, and RCB’s next game against Kolkata Knight Riders was washed out.
The Welshman said he is simply glad to be back on the field.
"It's a funny one. Obviously, when you're ill, you sit in your bed and wonder if you're ever going to feel better again and you think about all the things that you took for granted when you were healthy.
"As a group, we've not played cricket until tonight in three weeks or so and I don't think I've played in a month, which is a long time. So, more than anything else, I'm just glad that I'm healthy and I'm feeling good and I'm playing another game of cricket."
Meanwhile, Sunrisers Hyderabad assistant coach Simon Helmot said the team is determined to finish in the top half of the table.
SRH, who began the season with a bang, slipped to eighth with seven losses and five wins from 13 matches. Their ultra-aggressive approach often backfired, and Helmot admitted the team struggled to build consistent partnerships.
"That's something we've reflected upon and spoken about. But don't get me wrong, we've always talked about playing intelligent and smart cricket, assessing conditions, assessing situations, so we can post a match-winning total," he said.
"...it's been nice to get a couple of wins on the bounce, and we did play well back at home even in the match that got washed out. So, that's three solid efforts in the last three games."
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