Virat Kohli’s masterclass puts RCB on the hunt
Posted Date – 11:41 PM, Thursday – 5/18/23
Photo: Surya Sridhar
Hyderabad: Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium as their search for a playoff spot continued as King Virat Kohli delivered a masterclass of the century (63 overs 100 innings; 12×4, 4×6) at Hyderabad on Thursday.
With in-form batsman Heinrich Klaassen’s century (104 for 51; 8×4, 6×6), the Sunrisers posted 186/5 after being asked to bat first. However, his efforts were in vain as the Royal Challengers overtook the total by four goals. Kohli’s 172-game opening partnership with captain Faf du Plessis (71 on 47 pitches; 7×4, 2×6) set the stage for a landslide victory. The win puts them in fourth place with 14 of 13 games played. They will face the Gujarat Titans in their final match on Sunday. For bottom-placed Hyderabad, it was their sixth defeat in seven home matches.
Chasing the target, the Royal Challengers quickly left the block. Kohli found the perfect ease to hit the gap between Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Abhishek Sharma, two and four each. Captain Faf joined him at 6 and 4 in Bhuvneshwar, who won 64/0 in the power game.
Debuter Nitisk Kumar Reddy almost got a wicket from du Plessis when the batsman pulled the bowler straight to Mayank Dagar in the middle wicket for 41. However, the commentary revealed that the second bouncer was on the batsman’s shoulder, making it a no-ball.
From then on, it was all about the RCB duo. They dictate terms to SRH bowlers. Kohli hit SRH’s most experienced bowler, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, for four boundaries in the 15th over to bring his side to 150/0. He pulled Natarajan to over 6 overs in 62 balls (12×4, 4×6) and brought Bhuvi over 6 overs to reach his 6th IPL century, but in the next 15 shots at the center of the ball need to close 14 balls.
Glenn Maxwell and Michael Bracewell brought their team home despite Natarajan sacking du Plessis in the 19th inning.
Earlier, the Sunrisers got off to a smooth start, with Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi struggling to get out of the box. Outspinner Bracewell, who was introduced in the fifth, had two hits in his first. He first got rid of Abhishek Sharma (11) on the first ball and Tripathi (15) on the third ball. Sunrisers in-form Heinrich Klaasen hit a Shahbaz Ahmed three-pointer to make them 49/2 in power play.
Klaassen added 50 for the third wicket in just 29 balls with skipper Aiden Markram.
Klaasen particularly liked leg spinner Karn Sharma who hit six runs in the ninth and 11th innings. Shahbaz Ahmed smashed Markram (18 for 20) to break a 76-run partnership. Harry Brook joined Klaasen and hit Karn Sharma in the 15th for 4 and 6. Klaassen hit six more balls in the same over to make it over 21.
Klaasen and Brook hit Shahbaz for 19 runs in the 17th inning. Klaasen then brought down Harshal Patel in the top straight over the bowlers for his first IPL century. He became the fastest Centurion (49 goals) for the Sunrises. But Harshal ended his innings with Yorkers after two balls. Mohammad Siraj, however, capped off a fine final with just four runs from Glenn Phillips’ wicket in the last five, with the hosts taking 53 from their last five.
