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Former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli rose to the occasion when his team needed him the most against the Gujarat Titans (GT). The 33-year-old had a torrid IPL 2022 season with the bat until tonight, Thursday, May 19.
However, Kohli's 73 runs off just 54 balls ensured that RCB beat GT comprehensively to keep themselves alive in the race to the IPL playoffs. Right from ball one, there was real intensity in the way Virat Kohli took every single run and that showed just how much this innings meant to him and his IPL team.
Fans on Twitter were thrilled to see King Kohli back to his very best right when RCB's qualification to the playoffs was on the line. They were also happy to see the other two stars in Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell coming good with the bat.
Here are some of the reactions:
Virat Kohli, Faf, Maxwell combine to pip Gujarat
A target of 169 looked like a tricky task, especially with the ball stopping a bit and the Titans having a top quality bowling attack. Some luck did go RCB's way in the beginning as Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis edged some deliveries to the boundary.
Kohli was also dropped through a slight misjudgement from Rashid Khan at the boundary. But after the reprieve, the 33-year-old was absolutely flawless. Du Plessis was happy to play second fiddle while Kohli was in full flow at the other end.
The duo added 115 runs for the first wicket, but things looked a bit tricky when Rashid dismissed du Plessis. The leg-spinner could have triggered a batting collapse had he got Maxwell on the very next delivery.
However, the stars seemed to be with RCB as the ball hit the stumps but the bails weren't uprooted. From there on, there was no looking back as despite Kohli's wicket, Maxwell went on an absolute rampage to give RCB a fantastic eight-wicket win.
RCB will now be closely watching the game between the Mumbai Indians and the Delhi Capitals on May 21. They will hope that the five-time IPL champions do them a favor by winning against the Capitals so that RCB can go through to the playoffs.
Click here to view the IPL winners list.
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