King Kohli on record-breaking spree! Becomes first ever-batsman to do THIS

Virat Kohli achieved his fifth half-century in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season, yet his efforts went in vain as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) comprehensively defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Despite Kohli's 54 runs off 37 deliveries while chasing KKR's target of 201, he lacked support from other batters except for Mahipal Lomror, who contributed a valuable cameo of 34 runs off 18 balls. Notably, during his innings in Bengaluru, the 34-year-old cricketer accomplished another milestone.

Leading Bangalore for the third consecutive game in the absence of regular captain Faf du Plessis, who was a substitute due to a rib injury, Kohli made an effort to ignite the chase with his 37-ball innings. However, Bangalore's batting struggled after Du Plessis' dismissal at 17, despite hitting two sixes, and Glenn Maxwell's early exit with just five runs.

During the post-match conference, he said, “To be honest we handed them the game. We did deserve to lose.We were certainly not up to standard. If you look at the game, we didn't capitalise (on) our chances. We dropped a few chances which cost us 25-30 runs.”

KKR’s clinical victory against RCB

However, du Plessis' innings came to an end in the third over as he was caught at long-on off a flighted googly from Suyash Sharma. On the other hand, Kohli managed to hit boundaries off him and Varun Chakaravarthy, but Suyash struck back by dismissing Shahbaz Ahmad lbw. During the last over of the power-play, Kolkata successfully took a wicket as Glenn Maxwell played a slower delivery from Chakravarthy, sending it straight to the mid-off fielder.

Despite Kohli's captaincy and a notable knock of 54 runs, as well as a impressive cameo of 34 runs in 18 balls by Mahipal Lomror, the collective efforts of spinners Varun Chakaravarthy and Suyash Sharma, who took five wickets in total, along with two wickets from Andre Russell, helped KKR end their four-match losing streak in IPL 2023. As a result, they emerged victorious by a margin of 21 runs against RCB.

Royal Challengers Bangalore currently stand at the fifth spot of points table with 4 victories and as many losses in 8 matches. They have 8 points and a run rate of -0.139. It is crucial for them to turn the momentum in their favour to keep their chances strong for qualifying in the next stage of the tournament. They will now clash against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on 1st of May.

On the other hand, this was Kolkata Knight Riders’ first victory after losing four matches. They currently have three victories in 8 matches and stand at seventh position in the table with a run rate of -0.027. They will now lock horns against Gujarat Titans on Saturday.