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• 'It is not just Kohli contributing now' – Du Plessis relieved by RCB's IPL improvement

  Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis is relieved by his side's recent Indian Premier League improvement after having an over-reliance on India great Virat Kohli in the early stages of the competition.

  A comfortable 35-run away win over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday has lifted spirits for RCB after they had fallen just one run short of reaching a big Kolkata Knight Riders total in their previous outing.

  RCB remain bottom of the standings going into back-to-back matches against the Gujarat Titans, but they approach that double-header with new-found confidence after snapping a miserable six-match losing streak.

  "In the last two games we have shown great signs of fight," Du Plessis said.

  "The [first] SRH game we got to 260 [pursuing a big target], then the KKR game as well, just one run [short]. It was almost a record chase. 

  "We have been close for a while, but you need to win matches to get confidence back in the group. 

  "It is a massive relief. No matter where we are, when you are not winning it does affect you, it does affect you mentally, it does affect your confidence. 

  "I will sleep a bit easier. For the first half of the tournament only it was only Virat contributing. It is important as a batting line-up to contribute together because we have seen the scores are so big, it's never going to be just one guy scoring the runs."

  Kohli still impressed against SRH, with his 51 – along with a rapid 50 off 20 balls from Rajat Patidar – helping RCB to score 206-7 after opting to bat first.

  There was also a strong outing from Australia all-rounder Cameron Green, who scored 37 not out before taking 2-12 from two overs with the ball and grabbing a huge catch to dismiss SRH dangerman Heinrich Klaasen for just seven.

  Du Plessis added: "The last week and a half we have been working hard to make sure we get better at our own game. 

  "You can see the last game; there is some confidence in our batting. We have got more guys scoring runs now. Rajat playing two really good innings back-to-back, Greeny getting runs. It is massive for him just to get that load off his shoulders. 

  "You can't speak confidence into the group, you can't fake confidence into the group. The only thing that gives confidence is performance. 

  "First half of the competition we certainly felt like we weren't near our full potential. And when you're playing at 50% or 60%, obviously, you try 100%, but you don't get the confidence in your group. 

  "The competition is so strong, the teams are so strong that you'll get hurt [if you are not at 100%]."

  Green thought Du Plessis had taken a risk by choosing to bat first, but it was a decision that paid off.

  He said: "It was [a brave call]. I definitely wasn't in agreement with [batting first] so credit to the captain and coach. SRH have been batting beautifully when they bat first - that was the main reason.

  "We always have to celebrate little wins and we feel pretty good now. Always nice to be back to winning ways."

  Asked about his catch to dismiss Klaasen, he added: "I think the whole time I kept thinking 'Klaasen, Klaasen' in my head!

  "It was up there for a while, happy I hung on to it."

  RCB are away to the Titans on Sunday, before playing at home against Shubman Gill's side on May 4.

• New Zealand take unassailable series lead after hard-fought victory over Pakistan

  Pakistan slumped to a four-run defeat at the hands of New Zealand despite the efforts of Abbas Afridi and Fakhar Zaman.

  The Black Caps took an unassailable 2-1 lead in the five-match T20I series, thanks in the main to Tim Robinson (51) and bowling duo William O'Rourke (3-27) and Ben Sears (2-27) on Thursday.

  Set a target of 179 to win, Pakistan looked on their way to victory when Fakhar Zaman got going, but he was eventually dismissed on 61 by Sears.

  Abbas took three wickets in New Zealand's innings, yet he could only contribute a single run to Pakistan's cause as the hosts fell just short in Lahore.

  Data Debrief

  Shadab Khan did not bowl a single delivery for Pakistan, which is the first time that has happened in a completed T20I innings.

  He did take an exceptional catch to dismiss Mark Chapman, but it was not enough to inspire Pakistan.

• Tape ball programme can help England find unorthodox talent – Richard Gould

  The England and Wales Cricket Board hopes to unearth a new seam of talent beyond the game’s traditional league structure with a national tape ball scheme that allows players to thrive without “whites, willow and leather”.

  The practice of using a soft ball wrapped in electrical tape to aid swing and variable bounce is a common one in Asia, where it has helped produce express pace bowlers like Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi and spinners such as Rashid Khan and Shakib-al-Hasan, but has been slow to enter the mainstream conversation in the United Kingdom.

  The Chance to Shine charity has long pioneered tape ball cricket as part of its engagement hubs and now, with the ECB keen to live up to its lofty aspiration of becoming the most inclusive team sport in the country, it is at the heart of a new core cities programme designed to engage ‘diverse communities in urban areas’.

  Speaking at a launch event where games were hosted in a warehouse space in Birmingham, ECB chief executive Richard Gould was optimistic about reaching out to those with an interest in cricket but limited access to the pavilions and prepared pitches in the club setup.

  “We talk about clubs with picket fences around them. In the past that has been seen as the preserve of the ECB. We’ve missed a complete trick on that,” he said.

  “When we talk about the recreational game we’re not just talking about Premier League clubs and village cricket clubs now. We’re talking about all forms of cricket that take place.

  “You can play the game anywhere, any time, with anybody, in any environment you want. You don’t have to have whites, willow and leather to do it. You can just pick up a bat and a ball and have some fun.”

  As well as fulfilling its remit of reaching out to all comers at a grassroots level, Gould also believes there are benefits to finding cricketers with different styles who have learned the game outside the traditional, private-school heavy pathways.

  “Without doubt there are,” he said. “We have to get out and try to find the talent. More to the point, we have to try and find talent in areas that we haven’t normally looked for it.

  “I do think county pathways will be looking to make sure they don’t miss out on this talent. It’s just about punching through all of our normal procedures and finding ways to both get people in the game and unearthing that talent which may be unorthodox and great.”