PBKS's James Hopes Frustrated But Hopeful After RCB Defeat in IPL 2026

IPL 2026: It's frustrating, but there's still hope, says PBKS's James Hopes after RCB defeat

Dharamshala, May 17

Punjab Kings are on 13 points from 13 matches and could have done their chances a world of good if they had defeated Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Sunday. However, they lost by 23 runs chasing a massive total of 223.

"Yeah, it's frustrating, to be honest. Yeah, we are staring it (elimination) in the face now. There's still hope, but we need to turn it around. We need to tidy up some areas," said Hopes in the post-match press conference on Sunday.

Talking about Sunday's match against RCB, Hopes said they were always chasing their tail in the match.

"Today, once again, I felt like we were always chasing our tail, with the ball, not creating enough opportunities early. We controlled the Power-play pretty well, but every time we'd get back the momentum, they'd have a big over, they'd get back on top. And then in the chase, we sort of got going, but then, yeah, it just petered out," said Hopes.

The PBKS fast bowling coach said they lost too many wickets early on. "We lost too many wickets early, but it was just...Tonight's game, the way we lost was less frustrating than the other games, to be honest. But, yeah, it was just another disappointing night.

He disagreed with the notion that, because of the high-scoring wins in the first half of the tournament, PBKS have gone into defensive mode and are finding it difficult to come out of it.

He admitted they missed a few opportunities in the field and though they gave away 20-odd extra runs, allowing RCB to put up a challenging total.

About the road ahead for them, the Aussie bowling coach said, "Defending a massive total of 222/4, RCB produced a disciplined bowling effort led by Rasikh Salam Dar, who claimed three wickets, to restrict Punjab Kings to 199/8 despite a fighting half-century from Shashank Singh. The victory helped RCB move to 18 points from 13 matches and secure a place in the playoffs.

We have a week now where, hopefully, a few results go our way, and we're playing again in the finals next weekend. But the boys have got to regroup, and they've got to stay positive, and they've got to believe, if we have an opportunity to make the finals, that we can make some noise if we get in there.

"So, at the moment, it's going to be about just instilling that belief back into them. And we've been trying. It's not through lack of training," said Hopes.

Defending a massive total of 222/4, RCB produced a disciplined bowling effort led by Rasikh Salam Dar, who claimed three wickets, to restrict Punjab Kings to 199/8 despite a fighting half-century from Shashank Singh. The victory helped RCB move to 18 points from 13 matches and secure a place in the playoffs.

— IANS