CHENNAI: Virat Kohli's majestic 92 and Rajat Patidar's 56 propelled Royal Challengers to post a healthy 241/7 in 20 overs against Punjab Kings on Thursday. Kohli enjoyed a slice of luck and capitalized on the same to the hilt. After a shaky start, where he was dropped on several occasions, he consolidated his game and stayed almost till the very end to guide his team to a challenging score.
Initially, the pitch had something for the bowlers, but after a while — in particular after the break due to rain — it eased out. The rain-induced break gave Kohli the required rest and quickly analysed his game. He was a different batter from then and runs flowed from the meat of the blade. When he looked set for a century, Kohli got out to Arshdeep Singh, caught by Rossouw at the sweeper covers. Cameron Green towards the end put the long handle to effective use, making 46 off 27 balls.
Earlier, put in to bat, RCB got off to a disastrous start as they lost skipper Faf du Plessis cheaply. Du Plessis had struck Vidwath Kaverappa for a couple of boundaries . In the very next over, Kaverappa changed lines and was rewarded. He bowled a back of length ball outside the off stump and induced Plessis to play a false stroke. Shashank Singh at deep point lapped up the offering.
Earlier, Kaverappa had a chance to get Kohli out (who was yet to open his account). Kohli looked to whip a full length delivery through the on-side, but it swung away and went high off a thick leading edge. Ashutosh Sharma jogged back from point looking to settle under it, but missed it. Kaverappa was once again unlucky as Kohli was dropped yet again, this time by Rilee Rossouw at short cover.
Once Kaverappa accounted for Will Jacks, Patidar proved to be a thorn in the flesh of Punjab bowlers. He struck three sixes in a Rahul Chahar over. He too was dropped once and capitalized on it by scoring runs effortlessly of each and every bowler to reach his half century. Rajat's end came when he chased a wide delivery off Sam Curran to edge it to Jonny Bairstow behind the stumps. Kohli, riding on the generosity of the Punjab fielders, was on 42 when play was halted due to rain. RCB were at that time 119/3 in 10 overs.