IPL 2018: Proud Of The Way Our Bowlers Performed: Virat Kohli

Royal Challengers Bangalore, on Monday (May 14), thrashed Kings XI Punjab by 10 wickets to remain in contention for a playoff spot. It was perhaps the best performance from the Virat Kohli-led side this season as the three-time finalists thrashed Kings XI by 10 wickets. Right from the toss till Kohli’s four which sealed the win, everything went Royal Challengers’ way.

On a pitch which witnessed over 450 runs being made in the last game, Kohli decided to bowl first. Indore’s Holkar Cricket Stadium is known for yielding high-scoring games and expectations were high that Punjab’s top-order would score big. However, the Royal Challengers bowlers came up with a stunning effort to bowl out the opposition for just 88 in the must-win clash.

KL Rahul and Chris Gayle started the proceedings on a decent note by adding 36 runs for the first wicket. However, the floodgates opened once Rahul departed, falling to Umesh Yadav. 5 runs later, Yadav struck again to remove Gayle in the same over. With both the in-form openers back in the pavilion, the onus was on Kings XI’s fragile middle-order to bail the team out of trouble. However, the middle-order once again failed to deliver the goods.

Mohammed Siraj sent back Karun Nair for 1 before Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed Marcus Stoinis for two. Colin de Grandhomme then firmly put the Royal Challengers on top by dismissing Mayank Agarwal for 2 and reducing the hosts to 61 for 5. At the end of the tenth over, the Kings XI were reeling at 65 for 5.

Kings XI’s hopes of recovering and posting a good total then took another huge blow when Moeen Ali dismissed Aaron Finch to reduce them to 78 for 6.  The hosts kept on losing wickets and were eventually bundled up for a below-par total.

In reply, the Royal Challengers chased down the total inside 9 overs without losing any wicket. Virat Kohli remained an unbeaten 48 while Parthiv Patel remained unbeaten on 40.

Delighted with the win in the must-win clash, Kohli soon took to Instagram to hail the win and the bowlers, writing:

“Onwards and Upwards from here. Proud of the way our Bowlers performed. Now back home for the next game! ??”

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