Middle-order, lack of 5th bowler give Vettori the headache

A disappointed Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Daniel Vettori said the poor performance of middle-order batsmen and the lack of a good fifth bowler led to his team's 59-run defeat at the hands of Rajasthan Royals in their IPL match here.

Ajinkya Rahane (L) is congratulated by Daniel Vettori (R). Photo: AFP

"There is lot of expectation from the top four batsmen to do their job but they can't do it every time and guys in the middle need to step up," he told reporters in the post-match press conference here last night.

Vettori also felt the lack of good fifth bowler has also made easy for the opposition to become aggressive in last five-six overs.

"That probably was the root of the problem. This is something we need to rectify quickly. We have to work very hard and need to bounce back in the next game," he said.

"Teams batting first have put up decent scores, whereas we have struggled to chase on this strip," he added.