Dharamsala: Virat Kohli’s fiery 92-run knock powered Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to 241/7 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium on Thursday. The RCB batters displayed a stupendous performance in Dharamsala and gave a solid target in a must-win match in IPL 2024.
After winning the toss Sam Curran’s Punjab Kings sent RCB to bat first, however, their decision did not go in their favour. Kohli (92) and Faf du Plessis (9) opened for the visitors. Even though the skipper failed to make a mark in the game but Kohli did not make his absence felt on the crease.
The RCB openers could only make a partnership of 19 runs after Faf was dismissed by Vidhwath Kaverappa in the third over of the first inning. The Proteas batter smashed just 2 fours at a strike rate of 128.57. Soon after the first dismissal, RCB lost Will Jacks (12) in the 5th over, when the visitors were at 43/2. Jacks slammed just one four and six.
However, Kohli played a 76-run knock partnership with Rajat Patidar (55) who was stupendous on the crease as he slammed 3 fours and 6 sixes during his time on the field. In the 10th over, Patidar lost his wicket to Sam Curran. But it did not stop RCB from adding runs on the scoreboard.
Soon after replacing Patidar, Cameron Green (46) started hitting. The pair Kohli-Green played a 92-run partnership and helped RCB to cross the 200-run mark in the 18th over. The star Indian batter was in his red-hot form but was unlucky to miss his century as he was dismissed in the 18th over by Arshdeep Singh. He hammered 7 fours and 6 sixes at a strike rate of 195.74.
After the dismissal of Kohli, RCB started losing wickets quickly. Harshal Patel was on fire in the final over the first inning as he dismissed Dinesh Karthik (18), Mahipal Lomror (0), and Cameron Green (46) all in one over. However, it was very late as the RCB batters already did the destruction and put 241/7 on the scoreboard.
Harshal Patel led the Punjab Kings bowling attack as he picked up three wickets in his four-over spell. Kaverappa bagged 2 wickets. While Arshdeep Singh and Sam Curran took one wicket each in their respective spells. PBKS need to make 242 runs to win the match against the Bengaluru-based franchise in Dharamsala.
Brief score: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 241/7 (Virat Kohli 92, Rajat Patidar 55, Cameron Green 46; Harshal Patel 3/38) vs Punjab Kings.
