BENGALURU: Murder, he wrote. Murder of the Kings XI Punjab bowling attack that is. After sending the ball to the boundary to complete his fourth century this IPL on Wednesday, Virat Kohli pointed to his left hand’s split webbing. Despite that, a 50-ball 113 from him and 73 (32 balls) from Chris Gayle made the day for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
It rained before the start of the match, and then it rained runs. It was just fours and sixes from the time the ball left Kohli’s bat. His injury hardly seemed to matter, as it was one classy shot after the other. There was purpose and resolve in each delivery sent over the ropes. After being put in to bat, RCB had to come up with a massive score to make life tough for KXIP. That determination to build a big score was seen in ample measure. He seems to have even taken a liking for reverse sweeps, as was on show.
The batsman has scored 865 runs in 13 innings this season, with a highest score of 113 that he amassed here.
Kohli is a ruthless run machine for RCB, and even before the IPL, he was in scintillating form in the World T20 in India. He has continued to plunder runs, and almost at all grounds in the tournament so far. At the run-haven called the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here, he is just that much more punishing.
Two matches ago, he and AB de Villiers came up with centuries that were simply out of this world here. It is time for the team to deliver now, because only wins will do if they have any hopes of making the playoffs. But that is the beauty of Kohli.
He is there when it matters, he can deliver when the situation arises. He can be highly entertaining, and also be a match-winner.
On 10, he was almost run out by Axar Patel, in the fourth over of the innings from Kyle Abbott. The sharp throw missed the stumps narrowly, and that proved to be costly for KXIP.
Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 211/3 in 15 ovs (kohli 113, Gayle 73) bt Kings XI Punjab 120/9 in 14 ovs (Chahal 4/25) (D/L method).
RCB skipper in league of his own
13.36
Run rate of the 147-run stand between Gayle-Kohli, also the best for a century stand in this edition of the IPL.
1Kohli became the first batsman to cross the 4000-run landmark in IPL. He was 4th highest run-getter before the season started.
Gujarat vs Kolkata
Both teams are coming off huge losses to Bangalore, but that needs to be put in the backburner, as victory here for either team could go a long way in helping their playoff passage. Suresh Raina-led Lions need to be more wary, as they have tailed off after a brilliant start to the season. Considering this will be the first game in Kanpur, the wicket should be fresh. A flat deck is what will be in the offing.