New Delhi [India], April 28 (ANI): Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s director of cricket, Mo Bobat, was impressed with franchise stalwart Virat Kohli’s great “composure and skill,” especially when the situation became tricky during their successful pursuit of Delhi Capitals’ target at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Bengaluru muscled its way to the top of the table with a commanding six-wicket triumph over the Capitals. RCB was tasked to gun down a 163-run target, which they did, courtesy of ‘Chase Master’ Virat and Krunal Pandya’s entertaining 73* from 47 deliveries.
At one point, it appeared DC would trounce RCB in a low-scoring affair, considering the high-scoring standard of the Arun Jaitley Stadium. In the powerplay, the hosts roared back with aplomb and cleaned up RCB’s top-order to leave them dwindling at 26/3.
“We went in a little bit cautious about it. We lost a few soft wickets to begin with, and that made the chase more difficult than it needed to be,” Bobat told reporters in the post-match press conference.
However, Bengaluru turned the game around with Virat and Krunal’s match-defining 119-run partnership. With Virat being the anchor, Krunal had the freedom to express himself without the fear of failure.
“But when you got Virat at the crease you always know you got a chance of getting home with the chase. He showed great composure and skill. Krunal did a great job going in and build a partnership with Virat. It was good to see him go through the gears and get us closer to the score,” Bobat added.
Virat took RCB close to victory but couldn’t stay till the end to see it through. On the penultimate delivery of the 18th over, Virat tried to dispatch the ball with an inside-out shot but couldn’t clear the boundary rope.
Dushmantha Chameera’s length delivery, well outside off, did the trick, with Mitchell Starc calmly completing the catch to end Virat’s stay on 51(47). Tim David arrived at the crease and unleashed a relentless onslaught with a barrage of boundaries to help RCB steamroll past Delhi with a six-wicket victory. (ANI)
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