Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli took a while to sum up in words the absolute cliff-hanger of a game he witnessed against Mumbai Indians (MI) in Dubai this Monday (September 28) in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.
Kohli, who hit the winning runs at the end, was just glad his team eventually came out victorious after a thrilling super-over contest under pressure.
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Defending their massive total of 201/3, RCB had things in control till the time MI had stuttered their way to 78/4, still needing a mountain to climb with the asking rate only going upwards.
However, they were able to post a commendable recovery through the excellent partnership between middle-order duo Ishan Kishan (99) and Kieron Pollard (60*), who together ensured a tie.
In the super-over, Kohli gave the ball to pacer Navdeep Saini and he didn't disappoint his skipper at all, conceding just 7 runs off his six balls, which Kohli and his partner AB de Villiers later chased down with comfort against MI's renowned quick Jasprit Bumrah.
"I don't have words because it was such a rollercoaster. We batted really well to get past 200, and then the start with the ball was outstanding as well," Kohli said during the post-match presentation ceremony.
"[Two wins in three games] is a bit different from the past, isn't it? We need to plug in those gaps in those performances and keep accumulating the points."
Earlier in the game, openers Devdutt Padikkal (54), Aaron Finch (52) struck wonderful half-centuries and provided their team a superb start, before De Villiers (55) once again showed off his class, and with help from Shivam Dube's (27*) fine cameo, took RCB to an intimidating total on a surface certainly not playing the flattest.
Kohli reserved special praise for De Villiers, who retired from international cricket in 2018, but keeps going strong at the age of 36.
"I think he was coming off a long break. Some of the shots he played were outstanding. Good with the gloves as well. You speak with him, and he keeps things simple. Doesn't watch a lot of cricket, enjoys his life. Comes out here relaxed and backs his ability. That is what we want from him," he said on collecting the 'Player-of-the-Match' award on behalf of his friend, as he felt too dehydrated at the end.
At the point the game got tie, Kohli said he knew Bumrah will bowl the super-over for MI from the end where longer boundaries made it crucial to squeeze each run and hence, he and De Villiers went in quest of those eight runs.
"I thought about, Jasprit (Bumrah) is going to bowl and use the longer boundary. I thought about who are the best guys to come back for twos, and it was me and AB. It was an outstanding Super Over from (Navdeep) Saini against Hardik (Pandya) and (Kieron) Pollard. I think the long boundary gave him confidence," he said.
The game, however, would've been over a lot earlier had RCB held on to their catches, especially the ones dropped off Pollard when he started using the long handle.
"Fielding is something we have to keep working on. If we'd taken out chances again it wouldn't have been so close. As I said, these little things we're not capitalising on, we need to work on," Kohli said.
(Inputs from Sportstar)
