Dubai: Mike Hesson, Director of Cricket, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has said that the entire world saw Virat Kohli at his very best against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
CSK failed to chase down 170 and the side was restricted to 132/8, giving Virat Kohli-led RCB a win by 37 runs at the Dubai International Stadium on Saturday.
In the match between both these sides, RCB batted first and scored 169/4 in the allotted twenty overs. Virat Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 90 runs for RCB to take the side’s total past the 160-run mark. CSK bowlers ended up conceding 66 runs in the final four overs.
“A couple of partnerships at the other end but we saw Virat at his very best, that was an outstanding innings. It shows the value of having a set batsman, we have always talked about one of our top four being there to own those last five overs. It just showed what a class player Virat is. There is a lot of class there,” Hesson said in a video posted on the official Twitter handle of RCB.
RCB’s head coach Simon Katich also praised skipper Kohli for standing up for the team when it was most required. He also said that the wicket was a bit slower so a score around 170 was competitive enough.
“Virat stood up when we needed him the post, we knew the wicket was a bit slower as compared to the previous ones, so getting to 160 odd was a magnificent effort and Virat deserves a lot of effort not for his class and also the support he got at the other end from Sundar and Dube,” Katich said.
“We know Washington Sundar has been great in the powerplay, for him to come later in the powerplay and take those two big wickets, it really set us up,” he added.
No CSK batsmen got going and the side was left to do a little too much in the final five overs of the innings. For MS Dhoni-led CSK, Ambati Rayudu top-scored with a knock of 42 runs. For RCB, Morris scalped three wickets while Washington Sundar got two scalps. This was the first game for Morris in RCB colours.
RCB is currently in the fourth position in the IPL 2020 standings with eight points from six matches. The side will next lock horns with Dinesh Karthik-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Monday, October 12 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. (ANI)
