Katich rues dropped chances; Vettori lauds Gayle, Kohli

New South Wales Blues skipper Simon Katich said that dropped chances eventually cost them dear during their Champions League T20 semi-final against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Friday night. Katich though didn't undermine the efforts from West Indian Chris Gayle and Indian middle-order batsman Virat Kohli for their hurricane innings.

Daniel Vettori

Kohli and Gayle smashed unbeaten 84 and 92, respectively, to notch up a six-wicket victory. "Virat was really brilliant while Gayle was awesome. We tried different lengths, different paces. "It was a big learning experience for the young bowlers of our team, but probably a couple of dropped catches cost us today. The ball was holding up a bit," the disappointed Australian said at the post-match media briefing.

Gettable score
But RCB captain New Zealander Daniel Vettori believed that 200 was highly gettable considering the batsman-friendly surface. "It's tough for the bowlers, but it must be amazing to watch. And 200 was a par score here. It was tough to be belted over the park, but we managed to get home tonight," Vettori said.

Vettori also heaped praise on Kohli and Gayle for making the game easy for them. "Gayle and Kohli are confident enough to back their games, but you have still to play exceptionally well. "It is pure batsmanship and it's enthralling to watch them batting so well. Some of the bowlers will look forward to not playing here," Vettori said.