Kohli guides Bengaluru to first win
Master batter smashes 11 fours and two sixes in his 49-ball blitz
Virat Kohli’s 77 and a finishing act by Dinesh Karthik helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Punjab Kings by four wickets for their opening IPL win of the season yesterday.
Master batter Kohli smashed 11 fours and two sixes in his 49-ball blitz as hosts Bengaluru chased down their victory target of 177 with four balls to spare to bounce back from their loss in the opener of the lucrative T20 tournament.
Kohli fell to fast bowler Harshal Patel in the 16th over and soon Bengaluru lost another wicket before Karthik (28) and impact substitute Mahipal Lomror (17) steered the team home in an unbeaten stand of 48 off 18 balls.
Karthik hit two sixes and three fours including the winning boundary in his 10-ball knock. Bowlers set up victory with pace spearhead Mohammed Siraj and spinner Glenn Maxwell taking two wickets each to keep Punjab down to 176-6 despite skipper Shikhar Dhawan’s 45.
Kohli, who missed India’s 4-1 Test series victory over England because of the birth of his second child, then took charge after he was dropped on the second ball of the chase by Jonny Bairstow at first slip off Sam Curran.
He capitalised on the spill on nought and hit the left-handed Curran for four boundaries including three successive hits to set up the chase in the first over.
His flowing cover drives, flicks on the on side and behind-the-wicket hits raised the noise at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium as chants of “Kohli, Kohli” filled the air.
He raised his 51st IPL fifty in 31 balls and became the third batsman after Chris Gayle and David Warner to score his 100th 50-plus knock in T20 cricket.
Chennai to host final
Chennai to will host the final of the IPL on May 26 after the full schedule for the richest franchise league was announced yesterday.
Similarly to the season opener, the Qualifier 2 and the grand final will take place in Chennai, the home turf of reigning champions Chennai Super Kings.
The Qualifier 1 and Eliminator to be held on May 21 and 22 respectively.