'It's a mixed bag': Virat Kohli after Bangalore consolidate playoff berth despite a loss

Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli termed the team's performance as a 'mixed bag' after their loss at the hands of Delhi in the Dream11 IPL 2020 league match at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Monday. 

The three-time finalists were restricted to 152/7 in their 20 overs after being asked to bat by Delhi skipper Shreyas Iyer. In reply, Delhi got the job done by 6 wickets and an over to spare.

Shreyas Iyer & Co. will now face the title-holders Mumbai in Qualifier 1 on Thursday while Bangalore will face either Kolkata or Hyderabad in the Eliminator on Friday. 

'It's a mixed bag': Virat Kohli

"It's a mixed bag. As I said at the toss, you come to games to try and get the result your way. Through the 11th over, the 17.3 mark was informed by the management. I think we controlled the middle phase really well and they could've taken the game away from us. We are happy that we've qualified. Top two would've been really very nice. But I think we've played good enough cricket to earn a qualification spot. You could say just before the qualification, the mindset was a little bit tentative. We've got two games to reach the final. We have a shot, an opportunity and that's all we want as a team. I'm sure the guys will be excited about what's ahead for us. We can be braver with the bat in pockets. With the ball, we were decent, probably we could have a strong Powerplay which is our strength. If we implement those things, we'll be at the right end of the result. It's important to stay positive. There are going to be learnings along the way, but we are are glad that we are through. We'll have to assess what's happening, hopefully, they'll (Chris Morris and Navdeep Saini) be fine by the time we play our next game. And see how they go in the next few days", said Kohli during the post-match interview.

His opposite number Shreyas Iyer said that he was 'very chuffed' with the performance.

"Very chuffed with the performance. We knew it was a do-or-die and an opportunity for us to get to the second spot. We were really motivated. The teams winning in the latter half completely changed the scenario of the table and it was really commendable. Really happy with how the tournament has gone so far. The bowlers were really up with their plans and they knew what they had to execute. Nortje was really good and it worked out pretty well. Kudos to the way the bowlers bowled. We are one of the best teams in the tournament and we need to stick to the basics and if we try and execute our plans, the results will come", said Iyer.

Anrich Nortje, who was adjudged the Man of the Match for his brilliant bowling performance, said that it was all about getting the basics right and not something special from one guy.

"I said it time and time again. It's just doing the basics right and wasn't about something special from one guy. Coming into this game, small things started feeling better and I think those small things, once you get that right, you get your rhythm. We were thinking to make them hit to the bigger boundary and stick to our plans against each batsman. There was little bit of dew at the end of our innings and we tried not to be predictable. Yorker would have been the obvious option and we wanted to change it and see how it goes and wanted to hit the hard length. Having a bit of extra pace always helps. All ready for the playoffs", he said.

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