We can win matches without Gayle: RP Singh

Bangalore: Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer R P Singh said on Tuesday that his side can win matches in the IPL even without contribution from explosive West Indian batsman Chris Gayle as shown by captain Virat Kohli, who hit an unbeaten 93 against Sunrisers Hyderabad here on the same day.

"Generally people talk about Gayle, but we have plenty of batsmen like Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers. So we can`t say we are not able to win matches if Gayle fails," said R P Singh who played his first game of this year`s IPL on Tuesday. He praised Kohli for his match-winning knock which helped the team take a sweet revenge over the Sunrisers at Chinnaswamy Stadium. "This was Kohli`s best innings in the IPL. He planned his innings wonderfully well. He came in early after the fall of first wicket and stayed till the end to finish off the game," Singh told reporters at post-match press conference. Singh said he was happy to bowl two good overs, but expressed his desire to do even better. He said the team was surprised about the slowness of the wicket. "We thought it would seam around, but did not happen. Sometimes it happens. We cannot read the wicket without a single ball being bowled," he said. Sunrisers all-rounder Thisara Perera said his team was disappointed to lose the match after having defeated RCB in Hyderabad in a thriller and rued that the pitch was on slower side and had uneven bounce. "We were happy to see the back of Gayle early, but Virat came and changed complexion of the match by his match-winning knock. He is the best batsman in RCB. He has the ability to change the match and he did so and we lost," he said. Thisara said his team lost the match as they could not achieve the target of scoring 180 runs. "We were 20 runs short and could have defended 180 on this wicket," he added. He said pacer Dale Steyn completed his four overs early as the team targeted Kohli`s wicket. "I think he bowled well," he added. PTI