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In the last over,
which lasted twenty runs, Shashank Singh hit Alzarri Joseph for two sixes and a
four. Kings were now up to 176 for 6. It felt inadequate considering
Bengaluru’s average first-inning total from the previous IPL was 196. However,
this was not your usual Chinnaswamy pitch, where you could hit a line drive. It
provided seamen and spinners with exactly the right amount of grass cover and
assistance.
Sam Curran, like the bowlers from RCB, found movement with the new ball and got
Virat Kohli to misjudge his opening ball. However, the short third was not
reached by the thick outside edge. Even more fortunate was Kohli with the next
ball. At first slip this time, the outside edge broke through Jonny Bairstow’s
hands.
It was a Kohli
innings unlike any other from that point on. He came down the track, cut the
movement, and creamed it through the covers on the third ball of the over. When
he discovered two more boundaries by the end of the first over, the devoted
followers of Chinnaswamy exclaimed, “Aaar Ceee Beee! Aaar Ceee Beee!”
The person next in line was Kagiso Rabada. Rabada had only given up 27 runs
while dismissing Kohli three times in 24 balls before to Monday. Here, Kohli
burst out of his crease to smash Rabada’s first ball over extra cover, a length
delivery outside off stump. He treated Arshdeep Singh the same way in the
subsequent over.
After hitting eight
fours in his first fifteen balls, Kohli sprinted to 33. His eight boundaries
were tied for the most by an RCB batsman after four overs in an innings, and it
was the most runs he has hit in a Twenty20 after his first fifteen deliveries.
Generally speaking, Kohli lets up after the powerplay. His IPL middle-overs
strike rate since the beginning of 2020 is 117.53. However, he continued to
play attacking cricket on Monday, scoring 150 runs at a strike rate in the
middle overs.
In just 31 balls,
Kohli reached his fifty, marking his 100th century of 50 or more in T20
cricket. However, there was only a thumbs-up to acknowledge the cheers from the
dressing room, not a celebration. The explanation was that although Kohli was
off to a great start, RCB was not performing up to par. They had also lost
Cameron Green and Faf du Plessis for a combined total of six runs.
Then Harpreet Brar dismissed Glenn Maxwell for three runs and Rajat Patidar for
eighteen runs in a ball. But it was only Kohli who kept RCB afloat.
Kohli eventually
fell for 77 off 49 balls, slicing Harshal Patel straight to deep-backward
point. RCB still needed 47 from four overs at that point, but Karthik and
Lomror took them home with four balls to spare.
What about his lofted cover drives after coming down the pitch to Rabada and
Arshdeep?
“They know I
play the cover drive pretty well,” he said. “So they are not going to
allow me to hit through the gaps. And with guys like KG [Rabada], and Arshdeep
as well – he is also tall, if they are hitting [good] length, you have to create
some momentum into the ball. Once you are closer to the ball, you kind of
negate the bounce; you meet it earlier.
“You have to come up with a plan here and there, and try to keep improving
your game. I know my name is nowadays quite attached to just promoting the game
in many parts of the world when it comes to T20 cricket. But still got it, I
guess.”