Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli on Thursday admitted the decision to push AB de Villiers down the order didn’t work but said his bowlers should have been able to defend 171 against Kings XI Punjab.

De Villiers, who had smashed a 33-ball 73 against Kolkata Knight Riders in their last match, was expected to come in at his usual number four spot but with two leg-spinners in operation, left-handed batsman Washington Sundar was sent ahead of the South African.

RCB couldn’t accelarate in the death overs and if it wasn’t for the 8-ball 25 by Chris Morris in the last over, the total would have been below 160.

“We had a chat, a message from outside about left-right combination and we wanted to go with it because they had two leggies. Sometimes things don’t come off. We’re pretty happy with the decisions we took, but it didn’t come off,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation.

“Having 170 was a decent score. The idea was to let them (Shivam Dube and Sundar) to get their eye in. They bowled well. It’s not a great ground for bowlers but that’s not an excuse.

“We take pride in our bowling. Tonight it didn’t come off and we have to accept it and take responsibility. There’s always something to learn to go back and understand.”

KXIP captain KL Rahul heaved a shy of relief after the win, admitting it got too too close for comfort in the end.

“I don’t even have words. We knew that we had to scrap and get over the line once and that would give us the confidence. We’re a far better side than bottom of the table. Towards the end it got too close for comfort but happy that we made it.”

It was only KXIP's second win in the tournament and Rahul admitted it has been frustrating for the team to lose some close matches.

“Our skills were very good, probably didn’t capitalise in the big moments starting with the first game at Delhi. It’s part of the IPL, it’s part of cricket. There are ups and downs and this has been the kind of rollercoaster that’s been crazy but on a positive note we needed this win.”