No doubt, Virat Kohli had a lucky day at the crease last Thursday, but he was twice dropped by Punjab Kings before his sensational knock and he seized the opportunity to make 92 runs in just 47 balls including Six sixes and 7 fours.
While Rajat Patidar (55 of 23) and Cameron Green (46 off 27) kept the momentum going in the middle, RCB ended up on a mammoth total of 241/7. Led by Mohammed Siraj who took a three for forty-three, RCB bowlers defeated Punjab for one hundred eighty one runs for sixty run victory. Each of Swapnil Singh, Rocky Ferguson, and Karn Sharma grabbed two wickets apiece.
After winning the match, ‘Man of the Match’ Kohli explained how he reintegrated a tough sweep on spinners back into his game – which he did against Gujarat Titans spinners and then Rahul Chahal and Liam Livingstone who used it on Thursday against Punjab’s.
“…I used my normal sweep shot against them. I really didn’t practice it or anything like that; I just thought I could hit that ball as I have done in past games. It’s always nice to exploit that side of the pitch when you are playing spinners. It is something that I knew that…” Also knowing you got to take risks sometimes; it takes a bit of self-confidence from people around you when you want to keep up with bat strike rate both for me and also team.” The post-match presentation ceremony saw Kohli say this.
The Orange Cap holder now has scored six hundred thirty four runs in twelve innings making him the second batsman after KL Rahul to get over six hundred runs within four IPL seasons only.
Kohli’s strike rate of 153.51 so far this year has been criticized through out his career. He hinted at this when he said,” “It’s quality over quantity for me.”
“Quality still matters more than anything, especially at this stage of my career. It’s about learning your game over the years that allows you to keep practicing and tweaking things you want to get better at while remaining fresh,” he said.
The win was RCB’s fourth on the trot and takes them to 10 points, keeping their faint hopes of making the playoffs alive.
