Wow. What was this? This was just way too much brutality in a cricket game. This could be classified as an R rated game of cricket as Royal Challengers Bangalore absolutely hammered the Gujarat Lions. Outperformed and embarrassed, this was a game that was not only lost by GL, but also hit them with a huge blow to their confidence.
Suresh Raina will be hoping that his boys will get up from this loss and make sure they seal a place in the top 4 in their final games.
This game was marked by the fury of AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli. These two basically destroyed everything that fell in their path and entertained the crowd with each ball that they played.
In this cracker of a match, there were plenty of moments that don't fade away, quite like the Axe Signature range of body perfumes. Here are 5 of the best:
#1 What is Virat Kohli?
This can’t be real. Maybe it is. Maybe not. Maybe we have been warped to another dimension where scoring runs are very easy. But, wait. Gujarat Lions have struggled to even connect the ball. So this must be our own world and not some alternate universe.
While writing this, our minds are in delirium as we can’t fathom how one person can play with such consistency. It’s inscrutable, bringing us to the one ultimate question: what is Virat Kohli?
The way he is playing now, he will definitely break al batting record that exists and will go down as one of India’s best ever player— almost as good as Sachin Tendulkar.
Against Gujarat, he scored 109 runs in 55 balls. The best part was his acceleration as he scored the last 58 of those runs in just 14 balls.
#2 Is AB de Villiers human?
We are yet to figure out what Virat Kohli is, but as if that wasn’t a big enough problem, we have another equation to solve: is AB de Villiers human?
Our best bet is that he is a class 5 mutant who can hit the ball around the park with his mind. Jokes aside, today he was at his brilliant best—and when he is at his best, no-one can stop him.
Today was just one of those days when his bat was like a magic wand. He stayed on the pitch and played only 52 balls to score 129 runs—absolutely desecrating the Gujarat Lions.
#3 Chris Jordan roars
The Englishman was having a terrible tournament since flying in as a replacement for Mitchell Starc. Not only was he not taking wickets, he was also leaking a lot of runs and was not even a shadow of his best self.
However, as he had a target of 249 to defend, the pressure on him was non-existent while the batsmen were visibly shaken at the gargantuan task that had been handed to them, Chris Jordan took full advantage of the scenario and churned out 4 wickets in the 3 overs that he bowled while giving away only 11 runs.
#4 Yuzvendra Chahal also awakens
When the goat is dead, even a wolf becomes a lion and stamps its authority on the corpse. Something similar happened today as RCB bowlers were ignited to life as they had an unassailable score to defend.
And like Jordan, Chahal took full advantage of Gujarat’s nervousness as he completed his quota of 4 overs while giving away only 19 runs and picking up 3 wickets in the process.
Not only has this game been a great one for RCB batters, it has also given confidence to the bowlers—something that will help them in the next games.
#5 Sachin Baby nails the coffin
Virat Kohli was bored. Gujarat Lions were falling quicker than a house of cards in a tornado and the match was virtually over with 10 overs yet to bowl.
So Kohli started experimenting. First, he tried himself with the ball and conceded 13 runs in his only over, then he gave it to Chris Gayle. But he wasn’t done yet. At last, he threw the ball to Sachin Baby in an attempt to give him some respite as the youngster couldn’t bat.
And he took the chance with both hands as he bowled only 4 balls, but cleaned up the last 2 wickets in the process.
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