Kohli got support from McCullum and De Kock.
In the second match of the Super Sunday (April 29), Royal Challengers Bangalore hosted the Kolkata Knight Riders at the iconic M.Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Desperate for a win, RCB made four changes in their playing XI. The notable among them all was Brendon McCullum’s inclusion in the playing XI in place of his countrymate Corey Anderson, whereas AB de Villiers had to sit out due to the viral fever.
After being put into bat by KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik, RCB started their innings cautiously as McCullum (38 off 28 balls) and Quinton de Kock (29 off 27 balls) put on 67 runs for the first wicket in 8 overs. However, Andre Russell pulled things back for KKR with a double blow in the 10th over. The Jamaican all-rounder got rid out of McCullum and Manan Vohra in two successive deliveries.
RCB couldn’t have wished for a better player to handle that tricky situation than their skipper Virat Kohli, who smartly forged a 65-run partnership with Mandeep Singh for the fourth wicket.
Kohli’s unbeaten 68 runs off 44 balls (5 fours, 3 sixes) eventually propelled Bangalore to a competitive total of 175/4 in 20 overs.
Like always, the Twitterverse was buzzing during the IPL clash. Here are some of the top tweets hailing the RCB skipper:
@imVkohli seems to be Batting like he is from a different planet, with no disrespect to the young #RCB batsmen ,the obvious difference in skill levels between #ViratKohli and the rest is astounding...#RCBvsKKR #IPL #BadriBytes
— subramani badrinath (@s_badrinath) April 29, 2018
Always mesmerized by the quality of @imVkohli batting!!! #class #vivoipl2018
— Michael Slater (@mj_slats) April 29, 2018
Very competitive , I think RCB .. excellent responsible inns fro Kohli ..175 -4
— David 'Bumble' Lloyd (@BumbleCricket) April 29, 2018
Haven’t seen Kohli (with bat in hand) get so angry and pumped up like this for a long time. #meansbusiness #RCB #IPL #RCBvKKR
— Isa Guha (@isaguha) April 29, 2018
And they get to 175 @RCBTweets well played @imVkohli stayed till the end to give the team a total to bowl at. Sundar versus Narine and then Russell will decide the game. @yuzi_chahal and @y_umesh key. And Southee.
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) April 29, 2018
175 is not an intimidating score for a team like KKR. Could have been better, but could so easily have been worse given the position @RCBTweets were in at one stage. Sterling knock by Kohli. Will be pumped up. His bowlers need to deliver now #ReinventYourGame #RCBvKKR
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) April 29, 2018