Ipl 2024 : Kohli’s commanding 77 steers RCB to victory over Punjab Kings: A masterclass in T20 precision

Ipl 2024 : Reports

Ipl 2024,A jubilant Chinnaswamy crowd was calmed by the end of Punjab Kings’ innings as Shashank Singh carted Alzari Joseph for two sixes and a four in the final over of 20 runs.

This pushed Kings to 176 for 6. Given Bengaluru’s first innings average of 196 in the last IPL, it seemed below par. But this was not a typical Chinnaswamy pitch where you can hit through the line. It had enough grass cover and support for both seamers and spinners.

Also read :- Dhawan’s 618 runs in 2021 set the record for the highest individual score in a single IPL season

Just like the RCB bowlers, Sam Curran too found movement with the new ball and drew a false shot from Virat Kohli first up. But the thick outer edge didn’t carry over to the short third.

Kohli was luckier with the next ball. This time the outside edge burst through the hands of Jonny Bairstow at first slip. Normally, the first-slip fielder stands a meter behind the wicketkeeper, but Bairstow was right next to Jitesh Sharma and therefore had little time to react.

From there, it was an innings like any other for Kohli. On the third ball of the over, he comes down the track, cuts the movement and creams it through cover. At the end of the first over, he found two more boundaries, and Chinnaswamy’s trusty “R CE BE! R CE BE!”

Next in the firing line was Kagiso Rabada. Earlier on Monday, Rabada had dismissed Kohli three times off 24 balls while scoring just 27 runs. Here, Rabada’s first ball, a length delivery around the off stump, Kohli leaps out of his crease and smashes it over extra cover. In the next over, he did the same to Arshdeep Singh.

In his first 15 balls, Kohli hit eight boundaries and hit 33. It was his most runs off his first 15 balls in a T20I and his eight boundaries were the joint-most by an RCB batsman after four overs. in an innings

And he wasn’t slogging. He rarely does. When Arshdeep slipped the slower ball, he delayed his shot and opened up at the last moment to steer the diving Bairstow for four.

In the sixth over, Kohli got another reprieve when he mistimed Curran to the left of short midwicket, but couldn’t hold on despite Rahul Chaha’s full-length dive.

Kohli usually drops the anchor right after the powerplay. Since the start of 2020, his mid-overs strike rate in IPL is 117.53. But on Monday, he continued to play aggressive cricket and scored runs at a strike rate of 150 in the middle overs.

Earlier, he scored just 32 off 37 balls against Chahar in the IPL. Here, the first ball he faced from the leg-spinner, Kohli smashed it over extra cover for a six.

Kohli brought up his fifty off 31 balls – his 100th score of 50 or more in T20Is. But there was no celebration – just a thumbs up to acknowledge the applause from the dressing room. The reason was that while Kohli himself got off to a flying start, RCB were behind the asking price. Moreover, they lost Faf du Plessis and Cameron Greene by a combined six runs.
Harpreet Brar then bowled Rajat Patidar for 18 runs and Glenn Maxwell for 3 runs. But Kohli single-handedly kept RCB alive.

Also read:- Check the current gold rate in Delhi, Mumbai, and other Indian cities

When Kohli captained India, one of the things he demanded from his batsmen was intent, even in Tests. “Aim doesn’t mean you have to go out and play shots from one ball,” he once explained. “Intention is in a vacation. Intention is in saving. Intention is about being vocal in calling.”

This may be true in Test cricket, but in T20 the objective means only one thing: play your shots. And Kohli did exactly that against the Kings. According to ESPNcricinfo’s log, he struck 11 balls in the Powerplay, the most he has done in T20 cricket. In the middle overs, he had 14 strikes, the second highest of his career.
There may be several reasons behind this. The Indian team wants him to bat because of the T20 World Cup in June. Secondly, RCB’s batting depth can also redeem him. They were joined earlier this season by Green; Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik had contributed greatly in the previous match; They had an extra at-bat against the Kings in Mahipal Lomora.

Kohli eventually fell for 77 off 49 balls, cutting Harshal Patel straight to deep-backward point. RCB still needed 47 from four overs, but Karthik and Lomor took them home with four balls to spare.

Talking about his mindset while batting, he said: “In T20 cricket, I try to give the team a bright start as soon as I open here. But if wickets fall from the other end, you have to understand the situation as well.

“The wicket was not as natural as it was in Bangalore. It was a bit two-way. And I thought I had to play proper cricketing shots. Playing across the line wasn’t working very well; I tried a few.”

What about his high cover drive after dropping to Rabada and Arshdeep?

“They know I play the cover drive pretty well,” he said. “So they’re not going to allow me to hit the gap. And with guys like KG [Rabada] and Arshdeep – he’s tall too, if they hit a [good] length, you’ve got to create some speed on the ball. Once you get close to the ball, you Rejects the bounce; you fill it first.

You have to come up with a plan here and there and try to keep improving your game. I know my name is quite associated with T20 cricket these days to promote the game in many parts of the world. But still got it, I guess.”

Also read :- China’s latest computer chip regulations, which take a jab at the US