Neither heavy rain nor the pelting hail could stop Virat Kohli (92, 47b, 7×4, 6×6) from bringing up his fifth fifty of the season and keeping Royal Challengers Bengaluru alive in the Indian Premier League playoff race with a 60-run win against Punjab Kings.
Making the most of early reprieves, Kohli forged a 76-run third-wicket stand with Rajat Patidar (55, 23b,3×4, 6×6), and guided RCB to 241 for 7 before its bowlers knocked Punjab Kings out of the playoffs race, bundling it out for 181.
At the HPCA Stadium on Thursday, the Kings opted to bowl in a must-win game, but a sloppy show on the field let them down. With Kagiso Rabada unwell, youngster Vidwath Kaverappa underlined his potential on debut, claiming the wickets of RCB captain Faf du Plessis and Will Jacks, after he was denied a dream start when Ashutosh Sharma dropped Kohli on the third ball of the match.
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Kohli got another life in Kaverappa’s second over as Rossouw dropped a difficult take. Even before the bowler could come to terms with his misfortune, Harshal Patel put down Patidar (on zero). Those misses went on to hurt Kings.
Once the two batters settled down, they tore the bowlers apart. Kohli went after the pacers, while Patidar began with three boundaries off Harshal and followed it up with three sixes off leg-spinner Rahul Chahar in the eighth over.
His sparkling fifty — his fourth in this edition — set up a run-fest as a few Kings bowlers conceded at least 12 an over. Patidar then fell to Sam Curran.
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Despite the rain interruption, Kohli remained focused and brought up his fifty with a four off Liam Livingstone. He struck a flurry of boundaries and added 92 for the fourth wicket with Cameron Green before falling eight short of what would have been his 100th ton in all formats.
Rilee Rossouw’s 27-ball-61 kept the Kings in the hunt. He forged a 65-run second wicket stand with Jonny Bairstow to help the Kings to 75 for two in the Powerplay. But once Rossouw fell to Karn Sharma, RCB bounced back with Mohammed Siraj and Lockie Ferguson claiming quick wickets.
Source Agencies
