IPL 2013: Virat Kohli takes RCB to 106/2 in 8-over tie against CSK
IPL 2013: Virat Kohli takes RCB to 106/2 in 8-over tie against CSK
Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten 29-ball 56 as he led his team to a commanding 106 for two in a rain-curtailed eight-over match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) against Chennai Super Kings.
Written by Jaideep Vaidya Published: May 18, 2013, 11:41 PM (IST) Edited: May 18, 2013, 11:41 PM (IST)
RCB, needing a win to steal a playoffs berth, would be very pleased with their effort after the weather begged to play spoilsport earlier. The match began a drenching three hours after the scheduled start, at 11 pm local time, after incessant rains. But the RCB batsmen rewarded the thousands who had braved the weather by providing a cameo-ish, but entertaining 40 minutes of slam-bang batting.
You could say the situation was tailor-made for RCB, whose USP is their top-order. An eight-over innings was the perfect formula for them to give themselves the best chance of putting up a good total, after MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to put the hosts in.
Kohli opened the batting along with Chris Gayle. The gangly Jamaican took three balls to settle in, before swinging hard at Chris Morris’s widish delivery that took the bottom edge of the bat but still managed to bounce on the rope at extra-cover.
Kohli took a few more deliveries than his West Indian partner, judging the bounce and turn that Ravichandran Ashwin was getting, before launching into the off-spinner, hitting two boundaries and a six in the third over.
It was just the impetus Kohli needed as he targeted Morris in the next over, smashing him straight down the ground for four before getting a flat six through over long-off. Gayle, who hadn’t gotten much of the strike in the first four overs, and screamed out that he’s there too as he carted his Caribbean neighbour Jason Holder for three consecutive maximums over deep mid-wicket.
It took another West Indian to stop Gayle as Dwayne Bravo got the former to slash at a wide one straight to extra-cover. One-down batsman AB de Villiers then hit a boundary through the covers, before succumbing to Mohit Sharma’s slower ball soon after.
However, Moises Henriques stuck around with his skipper and helped give their team’s bowling plenty of runs to defend.
Earlier, what started as a drizzle after a hot and humid day, turned into a heavy rain 90 minutes before the game was to start at 8 pm, forcing the organisers to cover the green ground with massive tarpaulin covers and protect the pitch from getting wet.
When the rain stopped an hour later, bringing cheer to the frenzied fans and respite to the organisers, whose groundsmen swung into action to take off the covers, hovering dark clouds opened up again leading to another spell of rain and delaying the match further.
Finally, after the rains subsided, the umpires decided on a 11pm start with eight overs per side.
(With inputs from IANS)
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bangalore 106 for 2 in 8 overs (Virat Kohli 56*, Chris Gayle 28; Mohit Sharma 1 for 14) vs Chennai Super Kings.
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