Kohli comes good, RCB stay alive
Former skipper hits 54-ball 73 to help Bangalore ease past Gujarat Titans by eight wickets in their final league clash
MUMBAI: “A big one is around the corner.”
This was a sentence often repeated by people that matter in the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) coaching set-up while defending Virat Kohli’s paperthin returns this Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
It took a long and winding road, but the big one did finally come along. And in their last league game where RCB couldn’t afford another off-day. Kohli’s 73 (54b, 8x4, 2x6), his second halfcentury this season, drove RCB to an eight-wicket victory at Wankhede Stadium against toppers Gujarat Titans (GT). It keeps them in the playoffs race with 16 points (Delhi Capitals, on 14, have a game in hand with a superior run rate).
Chasing GT’S 168/5, anchored by Hardik Pandya’s watchful 47-ball unbeaten 62, the former RCB captain dished out a typical Virat-like innings filled with glorious shots. A couple of drives off Mohammed Shami straight and over covers got him started, before a misjudged spill by Rashid Khan at deep square leg handed him the stroke of fortune he so desperately yearned throughout the season.
Having got that luck, there was no looking back. Even Rashid—who has troubled him in the past—was not spared, with Kohli using his feet for a sublime four straight back and then clearing his left leg to deposit him over midwicket. That shot got Kohli to his season’s second fifty. His first, also against GT, took 45 balls. This one came off a breezy 33.
Skipper Faf du Plessis played his part in the opening act as the duo raced to a 115-run stand in 87 balls. Thus, even though Rashid dismissed du Plessis on 44 and eventually had Kohli— who completed 7,000 runs for RCB during the knock—stumped in the 17th over, the job was nearly done. Glenn Maxwell (40*, 18b), with his straight-hitting power and reverse-sweeping touch, got them home with more than an over to spare.
RCB set the tone for their must-win game with a fine show on the field. After an expensive first over in which Wriddhiman Saha took Siddarth Kaul for 14 runs, Maxwell pulled off a brilliant one-handed catch to his right at second slip as the in-form Shubman Gill fell cheaply to Josh Hazlewood. Matthew Wade took a liking to his compatriot and clobbered the pacer towards midwicket, but fellow Aussie Maxwell got him leg-before wicket. Wade reviewed, signalling towards his bat though there was no spike. There was no doubting du Plessis’s accuracy,
however, when his direct throw from mid-off caught Saha, going well on 31, well short of the crease. Pandya, who was up and running with an early six, pulled back after Saha’s dismissal. He was dropped on 14 at long-on by substitute Suyash Prabhudessai in the tenth over by Maxwell, whom David Miller smacked for consecutive sixes four overs later to signal the shift in momentum.
Just as the southpaw was cutting loose and aiming big, Wanindu Hasaranga’s sharp caught
and bowled effort clipped his stay at a 25-ball 34. Du Plessis was handicapped without the services of his death-overs specialist Harshal Patel—who injured his hand while fielding— and GT pounced on that. Pandya and Rashid Khan (19, 6b) collected 34 off the last couple of overs and latter ensured GT got closer to 170.
Brief scores: GT 168/5 (H
Pandya 62*; J Hazlewood 2/39). RCB 170/2 (V Kohli 73, F du Plessis 44; R Khan 2/32). RCB won by 8 wickets.