RCB skipper Virat Kohli hits a six against CSK in Dubai on Saturday.
Virat Kohli has surely confirmed that his early blues in the IPL 2020 is a thing of past with the skipper slamming his second 50 of the season in Royal Challengers Bangalore’s 37-run win over a tepid Chennai Super Kings in Dubai on Saturday.
Kohli played a brilliant unbeaten 90 to power Royal Challenger Bangalore to a competitive 169 for 4 after a slowish start against CSK.
Kohli, who walked in at the fall of Aaron Finch in the third over, led from the front with a majestic 52-ball knock that was the finest blend of skill and peak fitness.
His innings had four fours and as many sixes but in searing Dubai humidity ran four doubles in the final over, a testament to the hours put in physical training.
His effort was aptly backed by RCB bowlers, who chocked CSK batsman for runs to restrict them at in the chase.
Chris Morris (3/19), Washington Sundar (2/16), Yuzvendra Chahal (1/35), Isuru Udana (1/24) chipped in with wickets at regular interval to ensure CSK stood no chance with the bat.
Defending 170, Washington Sundar left CSK for 25/2 as he removed Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson by the end of sixth over as the duo was choked for runs by the pacers earlier.
While the asking rate kept on increasing, Ambati Rayudu and N Jagadeeshan found it tough to score on a pitch that appeared slower than the first innings.
The duo managed to put on a 52-ball 64 partnership with Jagadeeshan (33 off 28) departing in the 15th over with 89 runs on the board.
Needing 81 off 34, MS Dhoni at no.4 tried to increase the run rate but fell prey to Yuzvendra Chahal soon after scoring just 10 off 6 balls.
Wickets started falling thick and fast from this point onwards as Sam Curran (0 off 1), Rayudu (42 off 40), Dwayne Bravo (7 off 5), Ravindra Jadeja (7 off 6) fell one after another as last five wickets fell within 20 runs.
The RCB captain was involved in two half-century partnerships - one with opener Devdutt Padikkal (33 off 33 balls) and Shivam Dube (22 off 14 balls) for the fifth wicket, an unbeaten 76-run stand, which powered the total.
The last five overs yielded 74 runs as the CSK bowlers appeared to falter after having allowed RCB to score only 95 in the first 15 as Kohli and the left-handed Dube went on the overdrive.
Deepak Chahar finished with 1 for 10 from three overs while Shardul Thakur (2/40) was the best in terms of wickets.
Veteran Dwayne Bravo (0/29 in three overs) again showed his value by being economical at the death.
RCB did not get off to a rapid start as the CSK bowlers kept them on a leash after an out-of-sorts Aaron Finch (2) went early.
Young Padikkal and skipper Kohli kept the scoreboard ticking but there were no big hits to be seen.
Padikkal hoisted leggie Karn Sharma for a huge six in the 10th over.
However, his attempt to clear mid-off did not materialise as he ended up giving a catch to Faf du Plessis to give Thakur his first wicket.
Three balls later, Thakur struck a huge blow for CSK, getting AB de Villiers to nick one to Dhoni with a cross-seam delivery with the South African ace not troubling the scorers..
