Virat Kohli, Anushka Sharma (Twitter)
Kohli returned to his home in Mumbai after his magnificent unbeaten ton in RCB’s must-win league game went in vain as GT chased down the target of 198 in 19.1 overs and 6 wickets in hand and knocked RCB out of the tournament
Royal Challengers Bangalore star batsman Virat Kohli travelled back to Mumbai along with wife and Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma following the Bengaluru team’s 6-wicket loss to Gujarat Titans, which knocked RCB out of the IPL 2023.
Kohli’s magnificent unbeaten ton in RCB’s must-win league game went in vain as GT chased down the target of 198 in 19.1 overs and 6 wickets in hand.
RCB were put to bat by GT skipper Hardik Pandya after winning the toss and got off to a promising start with Kohli and Faf du Plessis raking up over 60 runs in the powerplay before Afghani spinner Noor Ahmed dismissed the captain for 28 runs.
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Australian Glenn Maxwell was sent back after scoring 11 runs by Rashid Khan, before Mahipal Lomror fell cheaply, for 1 run off 3 balls, to Ahmed.
Michael Bracewell made 26 off 16 but was dismissed by Mohammed Shami who caught the batsman’s lofted shot off his own delivery. Dinesh Karthik quickly followed his teammate back to the dugout as he fell for a duck on his very first ball.
Anuj Rawat contributed with 23 runs and remained at the crease alongside Kohli, who crossed the century mark, at the end of the innings.
Chasing the target, Wriddhiman Saha was the first to go as he was scalped by Mohammed Siraj for 12 off 14. But, Shubman Gill and Vijay Shankar built up a 123-run stand to get the holders back on track.
Shankar notched up 53 runs off 35 before falling prey to Vyshak Vijay Kumar. Sri Lankan Dasun Shanaka got out for a duck off Harshal Patel’s delivery before David Miller was caught and bowled by Siraj.
But, there was no let up from the brilliant Gill, who made an unbeaten 104 off just 52 deliveries to see the game out accompanied by Rahu Tewatia at the crease.
The defending champions closed out the game with 5 deliveries and 6 wickets to spare as they topped the league table with 20 points from 14 games to take the winning momentum into the playoff game against Chennai Super Kings on the 23rd of May at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.