Duminy the real show stopper - Royal Challengers Bangalore Coach Blog

Coach Ray Jennings

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Duminy the real show stopper

If there was anything that could possibly outshine a tremendous opening ceremony, it had to be JP Duminy’s flawless innings of 99 not out. I must admit that it’s the best I have ever seen him play, as he only had 6 dot balls in his entire innings. I’m even prepared to go one step further and admit that Duminy’s knock was the best ever T20 innings till date, as he just found the sweet spot with every shot.
Cricket is a great leveler, and although Duminy hardly managed to get the ball off the square in the recently concluded Champions Trophy, he timed everything to perfection last night. To RCB’s disadvantage, he seemed to have got his form back, and couldn’t put a foot wrong.
The Cobras fielded poorly, and apart from Charl Langeveldth, their bowlers had a pretty average outing as well. It takes just one player to win a T20 game, and the Cobras had a great deal of venom in JP Duminy.
We played poor cricket in the second half last night, and 180 must be defended irrespective of the batting conditions and the pitch. Our bowlers are unhappy with their effort, and are keen to make amends against the Otago Volts, as another sub standard bowling performance could be disastrous.
There are undoubtedly some positives that RCB can take away from last night, such as Robin Uthappa’s fine innings at the top of the order, and Ross Taylor’s pulverizing knock at the end. Having said that, the boys are aware of the hard work that needs to be put in before the Otago game, and I’m leaving no stone unturned in the preparations.
RCB were in a similar position in the IPL this year, and the squad has excelled in similar ‘backs to the wall’ situations. We all realize the importance of the Champions League, and are keen to fire on all cylinders in our next match.

Ray Jennings is the former coach of the South African national cricket team and current head coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore. He was talking to Dhruv Mullick

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Latest Comments:

Hi Coach,
I have a doubt, is this overseas players rule (7+4) applicable only to IPL teams or to all teams involved?
I did not get any info in any of the web site, if the answer is no, then wont it be a advantage for other teams if can have any number of overseas players???

Posted by sharath-chandra on 10/13 at 09:49 AM

I don’t think you could do anything but enjoy Duminy’s innings secretly! It was simply spectacular to see the way he paced the innings! RCB didn’t do anything wrong, they played as a team and every single player pitched in with contributions.. There are days when you just cant do anything about the state of the match! Nothing to feel disappointed about.
Otago volts have the biggest hitters from NZ in the team, but the we have the best spinner in ANIL KUMBLE! I’m sure RCB will do well and make the fans proud!

Kunal

Posted by KunJan on 10/12 at 01:49 PM

Its a wonderful effort by RCB against cape cobras. Our batting is . Until first 5 overs i thought that we are going to win the match. Paveen gave us a good start.But still we lost the game. I think replace akhil with bishnoi, open the innings with robin and pandey and replace kallis with Dale Steyn. i think bowling is some what weak. all the best for the match against otago bull.

Posted by shankarasharma on 10/11 at 06:11 PM

sir
1st of all i wud like to congratulate u 4 making rcb a stong n competitive unit after u took charge of the team after their disasterous ipl1….
I know i m nowhere near u in analysing da match but as a die hard rcb fan i wud like to discuss abt some strategical tips which can help rcb in their upcoming match against otago bulls.
everything was going fine in the match against cobras..i dint find any problem in the batting department. everybody played his respective role for the team. but one thing was striking on my mind n thats that rcb was going short by a bowler…if they wud hav dale steyn on that match then it wud mite have been a different story.
but ok lets bygones be bygones.
1 thing i wud like to say mccullum of otago bulls especially luvs to play against rcb. so whenever rcb will take on the field they shud come up wid the fast and da furious bowling attack and get mccullum out as soon as possible…
I hope RCB can win the final match of deir group against otago bulls and easily make their way to the next round….
LONG LIVE RCB…

Posted by sg081285 on 10/10 at 07:23 PM