Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli was all praise for the franchise's new signing Glenn Maxwell who scored his second consecutive half-century to revive the team and build a strong platform for AB de Villiers to fire in the death against Kolkata Knight Riders at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.
Maxwell, who completed his worst IPL season ever, in the UAE, scoring 108 runs in 106 balls in the 2020 season without a single six, has already amassed 176 runs in three innings with two half-centuries.
RCB lost Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar early in the PowerPlay, but Maxwell, on a pitch failed to befriend the batters, scored 78 off 49 laced with nine boundaries and three sixes before De Villiers' blitzkrieg 76 off 34 powered RB to 204 for 4.
"Maxwell was outstanding and AB to follow. When he gets in with that kind of form and flow, it's impossible to stop him. We got 40 extra runs on that pitch which slowed down. Maxi has taken to this team like duck to water. AB loves the team and they were the difference today," said Kohli in the post-match presentation.
RCB won the game by 38 runs to record their third-straight win in the tournament and subsequently went top of the table.
"There are areas we can work on. We're not getting ahead of ourselves and not getting over-excited," Kohli said as RCB ended their Chennai campaign on an unbeaten note.
