Faf du Plessis reflects on tough loss in Eliminator

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis acknowledged his team fell short with the bat despite a valiant effort in their Eliminator loss to Rajasthan Royals.

"With the dew coming in, we felt we were short with the bat," du Plessis said. "We did think we were 20 runs shy of what could have been a challenging total."

While praising his team's fighting spirit, du Plessis recognised the changing dynamics of the game.

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"Credit to the boys, they fought really well. That's all you can ask for," he said. "Looking at the pitch and conditions, you'd naturally say it's a 180 pitch because it swung upfront and was quite slow."

However, du Plessis pointed out the impact powerful batting has on setting a competitive score in the modern IPL.

"But what we've found out this season, with the impact player, the par score just isn't enough anymore," he explained. "Also with the dew coming in, we knew we had to score more to challenge them."

The South African captain also commended his team's resilience after a difficult start to the tournament.

"A lot of teams would have crumbled after starting 1 win in 9 games," du Plessis said. "But we gave our best and to come back like that - six games in a row - takes a lot of heart."