IPL 2019 | More comforting factor is batting with AB de Villiers, says Marcus Stoinis

Chasing 174 to win against Kings XI Punjab, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers had already laid a perfect foundation for RCB in Mohali. However, after the dismissal of Kohli, the side needed someone to step up so that they don’t lose wickets in a heap. Stoinis ensured the same alongside de Villiers with an unbeaten 46-run stand to ensure RCB gets its first win of the season.

After the end of the match, the Australian all-rounder shared his experience of batting with de Villiers during the chase. 

"I am pretty familiar with this ground, I have played here for three years. The more comforting factor is batting with AB de Villiers, that makes it easier," Stoinis said during the press conference, reported PTI.

"We needed it, it's good to get two points and get ourselves started.”

When asked about the chat with the South African batter, the Aussie replied, “Make sure to keep head straight, watch the ball, keep it simple and then once you get in, think about which balls you want to target.”

Earlier in the game, Chris Gayle played a fantastic knock of 99* runs to take the home team to a 170+ total in 20 overs. However, his presence at the crease had a little impact as the Bangalore bowlers kept on mounting pressure on the Punjab batsmen by getting rid of batsmen at the other end which restricted the hosts from getting a big total on the board.

"Main thing is every team has got world class players and they have got someone like Chris Gayle, who is arguably the best T20 player," the batting all-rounder explained.

"Make sure you keep coming back and get into contest with every single ball, and that's what our seam bowlers did; they did particularly well. They got hit early but all of them had good spells later and then our spinners controlled through the middle overs as there was a little bit of turn.”

RCB had lost all its first six matches and is currently reeling at the bottom of the points table with only one win in season 12. Stoinis is hopeful of the team winning consecutive games after Saturday’s win and has said that it is still a long season.

"We are not thinking about finals and that sort of thing. It is just about each game now, we can't afford to get too far ahead of ourselves, it is good to get started, we will take next game as it comes and hopefully we will win a few on the trot. It's still a long season," he said.