2LT National News

Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], May 10 (ANI): Royal Challengers Bengaluru all-rounder Cameron Green lauded the opener Virat Kohli following his marvellous innings against the Punjab Kings on Thursday.

A fine half-century by Rilee Rossouw went in vain as RCB bowlers delivered a brilliant performance to bundle out PBKS for just 181 runs and secure a 60-run win in the 58th encounter of the IPL 2024 at Dharamsala.

The 24-year-old player asserted that Kohli played like he had nothing to lose. Kohli took 47 balls to score 92 runs at a strike rate of 195.74. He hammered 7 fours and 6 sixes during his time on the crease.”The opposition team can’t give him that many chances. He will make you hurt, especially early in the innings – when he is trying to be aggressive. After a couple of drops, he played like he didn’t have anything to lose. He played like vintage Virat that we all know,” Green said in the post-match press conference.

The Australian cricketer stated that the Bengaluru-based franchise will focus on the next game against Delhi Capitals on Sunday and would try to win their remaining games in the ongoing 17th edition of the cash-rich league.

“Yeah, I think what we have done really well is look at the next game. Obviously, at the start of the tournament, you can look at what’s coming further and where we are at the table. And I think that’s the view where we are at, we kind of get pushed in the corner and what we can really do is focus on the next game and win every game. And it’s all going according to the plan at the moment. We are going to focus on the next game,” the all-rounder added.

Coming to the game, PBKS opted to field first after winning the toss. After the dismissal of skipper Faf Du Plessis (9) and Will Jacks (12) early, Virat (92 in 47 balls, with seven fours and six sixes) and Rajat Patidar (55 in 23 balls, with three fours and six sixes) steadied the RCB’s ship with a 76-run stand, keeping the strike rate high. Then, a fine knock by Cameron Green (46 in 27 balls, with five fours and a six) and his 92-run stand with Virat powered RCB to 241/7 in their 20 overs.

Harshal Patel (3/38) was the pick of the bowlers for PBKS. Vidwath Kaverappa (2/36) also did fine on his debut.

In the run-chase of 242 runs, Rilee Rossouw (61 in 27 balls, with nine fours and three sixes), Shashank Singh (37 in 19 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) and Jonny Bairstow (27 in 16 balls, with four boundaries and a six) looked dangerous, but lost their wickets on crucial stages.

The rest of the batters could not really put up a fight and lost the game by 60 runs as PBKS bundled out for 181 runs.

Mohammed Siraj was the top bowler for RCB with 3/43. Karn Sharma, Lockie Ferguson and Swapnil Singh also took two wickets.

RCB is in the seventh spot with five wins and seven losses, with 10 points. PBKS is in ninth place, with four wins and eight losses, a total of eight points. Punjab is out of the tournament. (ANI)