Royal Challengers Bangalore have kept their hopes of reaching the playoffs of IPL 2023 alive. In the do or die match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Bangalore won the team by 8 wickets on the basis of record sixth century of Virat Kohli (100) and excellent half-century and record partnership of captain Faf Duplessis (71). This is Bangalore’s seventh win this season and thus their journey will continue till the last match of the league stage.
Kohli, who was struggling for runs in the last few matches and facing criticism for his slow batting, this time continued to attack from the beginning and continued to attack until he was dismissed in the 18th over. Kohli shared a 172-run partnership with his captain Duplessis and ensured the team’s victory.
Also read : VIDEO : WATCH KOHLI BEST SHOTS AS HE CREATES MORE RECORDS ON GETTING 100
The target in front of Bangalore was not very easy. With the tremendous century of Heinrich Klaasen, Hyderabad posted a big score of 186 runs. In such a situation, Bangalore needed a strong start. Kohli did the same. On the first two balls of the innings, Kohli created the atmosphere by hitting two excellent fours off Bhuvneshwar. After this, Captain Faf Duplessis also started striking boundaries. Bangalore hit 64 runs in the powerplay itself.
Soon both completed their half-centuries. This was Duplessis’ eighth half-century, while Kohli’s seventh. After this, both also completed their third century partnership in this season.
Both continued to strike big shots even after this and also made the record for the biggest partnership of this season. In the 18th over, Kohli (100 runs, 63 balls, 12 fours, 4 sixes) completed his sixth century in IPL with a six over Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Kohli was dismissed in the same over, while Duplessis also returned to the pavilion in the next over. There was a partnership of 172 runs between the two. In the end, Glenn Maxwell and Michael Bracewell led the team to victory.
Bangalore had started well even in bowling. In the fourth over, spinner Bracewell took the wickets of Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi. In such a situation, Bangalore had a good chance to control Hyderabad. Heinrich Klaasen, however, had landed with a different intention. This season, Hyderabad’s most successful batsman and many times the only run-scorer, Klassen started with a four off the very first ball.
Take part in interesting online quizzes
Klaasen (104 runs, 51 balls) got the support of captain Aiden Markram for some time but Markram (18) also got out for a small score. Klassen kept blasting runs from the other side and completed Fifty in 24 balls. At the same time, Harry Brook, who sat out for several matches, returned and he also supported Klassen well.
Klaasen scored his first IPL century in the 19th over with a tremendous six. On the basis of this century, Hyderabad gave a match-worthy score.
However, SRH’s decision to play 3 uncapped bowlers , 1 debutant and only 2 capped bowles proved to be costly and this allowed the RCB openers to score freely and put on a show that ultimately resulted in a defeat for SRH