Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik and Faf du Plessis put up a fight for Royal Challengers Bengaluru after the hosts were left with a mountain to climb against free-scoring Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League on Monday. Travis Head’s record-setting century paved the way for the 2016 winners to smash multiple batting records in match No.30 of the IPL 2024 at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Resetting their record total, SRH smashed the highest-ever score in the history of IPL against RCB at Bengaluru. Head’s maiden T20 ton followed by Heinrich Klaasen’s quick-fire knock of 67, fired SRH to a record-breaking 287 for three in the 20-over contest. In reply, RCB posted the highest total in a losing cause by any T20 side. Reflecting on RCB's batting performance, former India skipper Mithali Raj opined that openers Kohli and Du Plessis showed intent to score runs in the powerplay.
'There were a lot of mistimed shots but…'
"They definitely had to put that kind of intent and take that approach as they were chasing 287 runs. And right from the first ball, both of the openers were showing the intent to score runs. There were a lot of mistimed shots, but that fetched them runs, which was very important. At the end of the power play, SRH and RCB were pretty much on par with just 2-3 runs difference. So that shows that they were in the chase," Raj told Star Sports.
RCB go down fighting
{{/usCountry}}"They definitely had to put that kind of intent and take that approach as they were chasing 287 runs. And right from the first ball, both of the openers were showing the intent to score runs. There were a lot of mistimed shots, but that fetched them runs, which was very important. At the end of the power play, SRH and RCB were pretty much on par with just 2-3 runs difference. So that shows that they were in the chase," Raj told Star Sports.
RCB go down fighting
{{/usCountry}}Smashing six fours and two sixes, Kohli scored 42 off 20 balls. The former RCB skipper batted at a strike rate of 210. RCB were 80-1 in 6.2 overs when Kohli was dismissed by Mayank Markande. RCB skipper Du Plessis scored 62 off 28 balls while wicketkeeper-batter Karthik kept the Bengaluru giants in the hunt with his blinder of a knock. Karthik entertained the crowd with his brilliant inning of 83 off 35 balls. Karthik's heroics lifted RCB to 262-7 in 20 overs, although the hosts lost the high-scoring encounter by 25 runs.