Ever since Virat Kohli’s admittance of love for pressure, he has lived up to the claims he made. It’s been two games since that and the Royal Challengers Bangalore have won both in quite a fantastic manner.
What makes Royal Challengers’ march so special is the fact that they are not relying on anyone but themselves to get to the play-offs. It is simple: they have to win all their remaining games, for if they do that, they will find themselves playing in the play-offs.
As if it wasn’t a problem for the bowlers already that both AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli are in hot form, Chris Gayle has also joined the party as we could see more than just glimpses of his best game.
The match had plenty of memorable moments that don't fade away, quite like the Axe Signature range of body perfumes. Here are 5 of the best:
#1 Gambhir and Manish Pandey’s start
After being put to bat first on batting-friendly conditions, it was imperative that the Kolkata Knight Riders got a big score on the board as we all know the strength of RCB’s batting. Unfortunately for the home team, they lost the wicket of the in-form Robin Uthappa early, leaving Manish Pandey and Gautam Gambhir to make up for it.
And they coped really well.
With a partnership of 76 in merely 8.1 overs, both Pandey and Gambhir gave the middle order a beautiful platform. Manish Pandey scored a wonderful 50 of 35 balls and Gautam Gambhir had 51 runs in 34 balls.
#2 Russell’s finish
While Gambhir and Pandey gave KKR a great start, someone was needed to put the icing on the cake—to top it all off in style. And who could be a better man for that than the West Indian, Andre Russell?
The man from the Caribbean Islands is one of the best T20 all-rounders in the world right now and there is a valid reason for that. His all-round game has always helped his national and international teams because of their outrageous diversity.
Against Royal Challengers Bangalore, he scored a powerful 39 runs in just 19 balls, giving his team the proper icing on the cake.
#3 The return of Chris Gayle
It’s been a long day without your brilliance, my friend—and it is now back, or at least the RCB fans will hope so. When Chris Gayle is in form, the entire Universe shakes due to his hitting ability which is almost God-like.
And yesterday, we could see him crawling back to his game.
Sunil Narine is one of the hardest bowlers to bat against, but he picked his deliveries up like people pick berries from jujube trees. He lasted for 31 balls and managed to score 49 runs—which is quite far from his usual standards of ruthlessness but if these are the signs of things to come, RCB will surely make the play-offs.
#4The “usual” Virat innings
Meh. Sun rises from the east, the grass is green, the water is wet, Axe Signature never fades away, and Virat Kohli scoring plenty of runs. You know what is common among these things? Yup, all of them are unchangeable facts of life.
He conjured up another stellar man of the match display in a must-win tie. This is a man who can chase anything and everything—and yesterday was another testament to that.
He scored a brilliant 75 off just 51 balls to chase down a tricky total with relative ease. The best part was once again him staying till the end seeing out the win.
#5 De Villiers' magic
Well, he came, he saw and he conquered. This is the story of De Villiers against the bowlers in almost every game. It has gotten to the point where the same routine can be labelled as expected.
When you think you have seen everything from him, he shows you something new and extraordinary to blow your minds off the park—like he does with the ball.
When a team has ABD, it is only natural for them to shine as he is someone who can entertain the crowd at will. In another common scenario, he and Virat Kohli formed a fine partnership to finish the game even before it reached the final over.
And his contribution to the win was a well-made 59 off just 31 balls.
His six off Narine's last ball was the most memorable one as he went down on one knee and hammered it over square leg.
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