The Royal Challengers Bangalore juggernaut rolls on in IPL 2020. Virat Kohli & Co record a thumping win over the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium to sit on the third spot in the points table.
After winning the toss, Virat Kohli had no hesitation in opting to bat first at an unusual slow surface at Sharjah. RCB began well with Devdutt Padikkal and Aaron Finch batting sensibly in the powerplay.
RCB Win By 82 Runs At Sharjah
Come to the middle overs the pitch got slower and shot-making became difficult. Then came AB de Villiers and joined his captain Kohli at the crease. The South African batting genius put on a show at took the match away from KKR. De Villiers scored 73 off mere 33 deliveries and propelled RCB’s total to 194 after 20 overs.
In the run chase, KKR batsmen just couldn’t get going against the ruthless bowling of RCB. It was a collective unit from the RCB bowlers and KKR could only score 112 runs.
Barring One Super-Human Everyone Struggled On That Pitch – Virat Kohli
The spin duo of RCB, Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra in their combined 8 overs gave away just 32 runs and scalped 3 crucial wickets. Chris Morris and Isuru Udana too were exceptional whereas Navdeep Saini and Mohammad Siraj too chipped in and RCB executed a clinical win.
Here’s what the winning captain of RCB, Virat Kohli had to say in the post-match presentation.
“They’ve played good cricket in this IPL. Coming here, it was important to get the right start. Great to see individuals step up when the team requies. Bowling unit, with Morris coming in, looks all the more potent. Very happy. At the toss the pitch didn’t have the usual Sharjah sheen. Knew the wicket was going to get slower and slower”.
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“Barring one super-human, everyone struggled on that pitch. Talk was around 165-170. Preparation was really good. Three week camp helped us. Have clarity of plans. Know exactly what we want to do on the field. All depends on the mindset. It’s very positive. If your bowling unit is strong, you have a great chance of going deep in the tournament”, Virat Kohli added.
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“Was unbelievable. I thought I had a few balls under my belt so I’ll start striking. But he came in and hit his third ball nicely. On a pitch like that, only AB can do that. It was a special knock. We got 195 purely because of the genius of that man. Always things you can reflect on and say you can improve on these things. All about taking this momentum forward. Don’t want to be complacent,” Virat Kohli said after an emphatic win over KKR.
