Star batter Virat Kohli’s skillful unbeaten fifty shaped the muse of Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s aggressive 182 for six towards Kolkata Knight Riders of their IPL match on Friday. Kohli (83, 59b, 4×4, 4×6) and Cameron Green (33 off 21b) milked 65 runs off 42 balls for the second wicket, the first alliance in RCB innings, as the house aspect produced a two-faced effort after being requested to bat first on a observe that was on the slower aspect. Another fascinating factor which occurred was Kohli and Gautam Gambhir hugging it out through the time-out which set the web buzzing.
(WATCH: Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir End Rift Rumours With Heartwarming Hug During RCB vs KKR Clash)
Checkout the reactions right here…
Gambhir and Kohli throughout day trip pic.twitter.com/uCKGk9Fjml
 R R (@RacchaRidhvik) March 29, 2024
Me when Kohli and Gambhir hugged one another pic.twitter.com/xAeREGsAQN
 Sagar (@sagarcasm) March 29, 2024
Ravi Shastri – fairplay award to KKR for this hug between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir.
Sunil Gavaskar – not solely a fairplay award, but additionally an Oscar award. pic.twitter.com/qgQfMICbzP
 Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 29, 2024
kohli and gambhir hugged it out pic.twitter.com/5avKGmM4Ve
 Shau (@shxuryaa) March 29, 2024
Coming again to the match, an archetypal Dinesh Karthik cameo (20, 8b, 3×6) added gravitas to the RCB whole as traditional in the direction of the tip. Skipper Faf du Plessis went again early because the Royal Challengers captain’s try and scoop pacer Harshit Rana ended within the arms of Mitchell Starc contained in the circle.
But a interval of stability adopted as Kohli and Green saved RCB on the observe with a busy stand that noticed them reaching 61 for 1 within the Power Play phase. Kohli dished out drives and lofts over covers, a brand new addition to his batting, sweeps and slog-sweep to fetch his runs, however the shot of the evening was a swat-flick off Starc that sailed for a six.
In truth, no different shot actually encapsulates Kohli’s batting just like the swat-flick – a baby of his want to seek out newer methods to maintain the domination of bowlers. A easy snap of wrists and energy emanating from a robust backside hand can flip this historically mild shot right into a malevolent run-making choice. Kohli introduced his fifty in 36 balls whereas different batters, besides Green, usually struggled for momentum and timing.
But on the different finish, Green wasn’t actually bothered about such technical angles, as his batting was all about brute energy. Sunil Narine, who was taking part in his five hundredth T20 match, was given a hammering as Green took 15 runs off the spinner’s first over that included a sequence of 4, 4, 6 – a sweep, slap previous cowl and a hoick over long-on.
However, the burgeoning alliance was snapped when Green’s effort to play a pull off Andre Russell was the ball crashing on to his stumps because the ball saved a tad low. Glenn Maxwell, who was dropped twice on 11 and 21, en route a 19-ball 28 couldn’t exploit the largesse of KKR fielders as his luck lastly ran out towards Narine. A slash off the West Indian spinner ended within the arms of Rinku Singh at deep level, and Maxwell needed to depart after including 42 runs for the third wicket with Kohli.
Rajat Patidar (3, 4b) gave the impression to be affected by insecurity after his travails within the Test collection towards England, and the right-hander produced one other vastly underwhelming knock. But at one finish, Kohli saved going even because the KKR bowlers adopted the pace-off technique with glorious impact to decelerate the proceedings.
Kolkata Knight Riders crushed Royal Challengers Bengaluru by seven wickets of their Indian Premier League match. KKR began off on a rousing word because the opening duo of Philip Salt (30 off 20 balls) and Sunil Narine (47 off 22 balls) added 86 runs in simply 6.3 overs.
Later, Venkatesh Iyer (50 off 30 balls) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (39 off 24 balls) helped KKR full the duty with 19 balls remaining for the aspect’s second win in three video games. (With PTI inputs)