"I don't give myself enough credit sometimes for important knocks," says Virat Kohli after RCB's win over SRH

Virat Kohli with his century helped Royal Challengers Bangalore to beat SRH and keep their IPL 2023 playoffs hopes alive.

Ian Bishop’s words were correct when he described the Virat Kohli century as a ‘100 of the highest quality'. Virat Kohli with a magnificent hundred against Sunrisers Hyderabad provided Royal Challengers Bangalore a golden opportunity to make their name in playoffs. RCB have convincingly defeated Sunrisers by 8 wickets in a 187-run chase. RCB with a magnificent 172 runs-opening partnership from Virat Kohli (100) and Faf du Plessis (71) have put their foot forward for the top 4 in the points table. Batting first, Sunrisers Hyderabad put up 186 runs on the board. Heinrich Klassen smashed the first century of the day in 49 balls. Klassen once again came out as a crisis man for SRH and took his team to 186 runs from 28 for 2. He added 76 runs with captain Aiden Markram (15) and 74 runs with Harry Brook (27). 

'I don't look at numbers' says Virat

Virat Kohli with his class batting, undone all the hard work done by Heinrich Klassen during the SRH innings. Virat Kohli smashed 100 runs in 63 balls with 12 fours and 4 sixes. Virat’s 6th century came after a 4-year gap in the IPL. Virat Kohli was pleased with his effort in batting, He said, “Quite special considering the magnitude of the game, We saw the ball was gripping in the middle. We wanted a solid start but did not expect a 172 for no loss”. Talking about if he ever gets conscious about the numbers and stats, Virat completely denied it and said, “I never look at numbers. Was telling the boys that the way I am looked at as an IPL player is like ‘Yes he’s fine, a few impact knocks’, It’s my 6th IPL century. I don’t give myself enough credit sometimes for playing impact knocks. I take pride in playing the situation. I don’t play fancy shots”. Virat Kohli was awarded Player of the Match for his century. 

Captain Faf smashed his 8th IPL 2023 fifty

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis is having a great season with the bat and as a captain of the team as well. Du Plessis is also the orange cap holder and has scored 702 runs in 13 innings so far this season. Faf du Plessis played great support to Virat with his 71 runs knock. Talking about the team's performance, Faf said, “Amazing chase, that’s my first reaction. We felt walking out after the first inning that it was a good wicket. 200 was a par score as not many balls turned for spinners. We are doing the right things from a batting perspective.”. Talking about his partnership with Virat Kohli he said, “We play in very different areas so it’s difficult to bowl to. We are good mats on and off the field”. Faf has smashed three consecutive fifties now. 

Markram wants to finish with smile

Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Aiden Markram looked disappointed after Hyderabad’s loss against RCB. Markram felt that his team fell short of a few runs. He said, “We batted pretty well and we could have found a few runs out there in the powerplay. Great contribution from Klassen but still it was a good score”. A huge crowd was there to witness a great game of cricket between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore. There was huge support for touring Royal Challengers Bangalore as well. SRH captain said, “There was great support for not just us but for RCB as well. We couldn’t give them a win. We all hate losing. Hopefully, have smiles at the end of the campaign".