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Kohli (Runs: 75, Balls: 51, Fours: 7 & Sixes: 3 At The Strike Rate Of 147.06) And AB de Villiers (Runs: 82, Balls: 42, Fours: 7, Sixes: 6 At The Strike Rate Of 195.24) Contributed 157 Runs Together For The 2nd Wicket Partnership. |
BENGALURU: Sunrisers Hyderabad proved their decision of winning the toss and putting in Royal Challengers Bangalore by dismissing Chris Gayle cheaply at the early stage of the game but it seemed as if Skipper Virat Kohli had some other plans at the end.
Rubbing off the disappointment of missing out on Gayle Storm, the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium greeted their 360° Superstar – AB de Villiers and he paid them back by building a whooping 157 runs stand along with Virat Kohli.
There was no dull moment for Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers as the scoreboard was ticking at a decent rate. AB de Villiers scored a brilliant 82, which was followed by Virat Kohli‘s responsible knock of 75 runs.
Just when Sunrisers Hyderabad wished for a moment of peace after somehow getting the wickets of AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli respectively, the pocket-sized dynamite – Sarfaraz Khan and experienced Watto tore their bowling attack by scoring a quick-fire 19 runs off 8 balls 35 runs off 10 balls respectively, which sailed Royal Challengers Bangalore to set a mammoth target of 228 runs.
Chasing a never-chased-before target was always a tough ask for Sunrisers Hyderabad and nobody seemed to be in the game for chasing it except their Captain – David Warner, who scored a lightening fast half-century but failed to stay till the end, which resulted in Royal Challengers Bangalore‘s 45 runs win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
- CAPTAIN VIRAT KOHLI AT THE POST-MATCH PRESENTATION
“We lost the toss. Didn’t get to do what we wanted, see how the wicket
played out. But it was a good effort to get close to 230. Bowlers did a
very good job after they got off to a good start. Watson has that experience in the middle, and Warner‘s wicket helped. Rasool is
a deceptive bowler, we saw in the nets that he was troubling the
batters. His trajectory of the ball is such that he can fox the batsman
with change of pace. Parvez was the standout bowler for me today. Chahal as well did a good job, he went for a few today but as long as he keeps getting me 2-3 wickets in the middle, it’s fine. AB
was fantastic and we’ve had a big partnership in Bombay [last season]
as well. He took the pressure off me and started hitting the ball like
only he can. Pleasure playing with him.”
- MAN OF THE MATCH – AB DE VILLIERS AT THE POST-MATCH PRESENTATION
“Absolutely love playing here. The crowd always gets behind us. Pleasure batting with Virat
and enjoyed myself. We love running between the wickets. I love batting
at 3 and gives me time to read the game. I have been scratchy in the
last few weeks, even in the nets I felt horrible. It comes down to what
you do in the middle. The bowlers have played together for quite a few
years. One or two guys, a guy like Shane Watson coming in and Milne,
who has been injured for the last 2 years. All of a sudden it looks
like a very good combination of youth and experience. Some very good
signs for this season. Kolkata
came back from 5 losses in a row, but it’s never happened again. So
it’s important to start well. Hopefully we’ll take this into the next
few games.”
Royal Challengers Bangalore
are always known for starting off the tournament of high, but hope so
this time, they will be able to keep up the moment throughout and erase
that ‘chokers’ tag forced on them as the VIVO IPL progresses!
