Bangalore: Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Anil Kumble held his team’s poor fielding responsible for the five-wicket defeat against Cape Cobras in the opening Champions League Twenty20 Group C match here.

A disappointed Kumble also heaped praise on J P Duminy, whose brilliant unbeaten 52-ball 99 saw the South African team through in the first match of the USD six million tournament.

“When you have 180 on scoreboard, it’s always disappointing to lose. JP Duminy batted really brilliantly.

We dropped number of catches that might be one of the reason, but there are other things to be looked after,” Kumble said after the match yesterday.

“The ball was coming lot quicker on the pitch. We thought that the pitch may play slower and it will spin later, but Duminy put up a great fight,” he added.