Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) convincingly defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Thursday, May 18 thanks to Virat Kohli’s scintillating century, by 8 wickets to give themselves a strong chance of qualifying for the playoff rounds.
When asked to bat first, SRH thanks to wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen's first IPL century (104 off 51 balls) managed 186/5. The RCB's best bowler was Michael Bracewell who claimed two wickets while only allowing 13 runs in his two overs.
The RCB openers Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis destroyed the Sunrisers' attack while chasing a stiff target, accumulating 172 runs for the first wicket. Virat, who scored 100 runs off 62 balls before being dismissed in the 18th over, in particular, was harsh on the SRH bowlers. The IPL century was Kohli's sixth and his first in four years.
His knock was studded with 12 fours and 4 sixes. Soon after Kohli’s dismissal, Du Plessis got out in the penultimate over after scoring 71 off 47 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes. But RCB won the match with 4 balls to spare and 8 wickets in hand.
IPL 2023: WATCH - Virat Kohli signs souvenirs for SRH youngsters after memorable ton
Kohli got praise from all corners, with Pakistan bowler Mohammad Amir one of the many to praise the RCB ace, while also throwing a sly dig at teammate and the Indian batsman's rival Babar Azam.
The argument about who is the best batter of this age, with Kohli and Babar, respectively, receiving the moniker "king," is as heated as the rivalry between India and Pakistan.
Aamir called Kohli the only true "king" on Twitter after the Indian batsman scored the game-winning century against SRH, subtly mocking Babar in the process.
“What a inning by one and only the real king @imVkohli take a bow,” Amit tweeted.
In his YouTube channel “Inswing with Amir,’ he said Virat Kohli has been his favourite batsman in the world cricket of this era and no one comes close to him.
“There is no comparison between Virat with any other player of this generation. Virat’s achievements are unbelievable, The kind of shots he has played is unbelievable. We know about his class and a big player will always come good when going gets tough. He has scored his first hundred in four years, his sixth in tournament’s history.
He is the real king of cricket. If he will play for five more years I don’t know how many records he is going to set .. you never know,” he said.
“RCB’s hope for the semifinals are alive now. I hope they play in the semis and final and also win the title,” said Amir.
Amir lauded RCB’s opening pair of Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli.
“I think these two are unbelieveable. Faf is leading run scorer of the tournament and it looks like he would end up scoing more than 800 runs in this year’s IPL,” he said.
Amir also lauded Heinrich Klaassen, who made 104 for SRH, and said: "It was one of Klassen’s best innings of his career. He deserves all the plaudits."
RCB will last play GT in the final league game of IPL 2023 in Bengaluru on May 21.
