Picture : BCCI
Virat Kohli hit a brilliant hundred as Royal Challengers Bangalore kept their play-offs hopes alive as they crushed Sunrisers Hyderabad 8 wickets in a Tata IPL 2023 encounter in Hyderabad .
RCB skipper Faf du Plessis won the toss and had no hesitation in asking SRH to bat first . The batting which ha s let down SRH right through continued here too with – Opener Abhishek Sharma ( 11) , Rahul Tripathi (15) . Skipper Aiden Markram ( 18) . SRH innings was in tatters but South African Heinrich Klaasen came with a gem of an innings to give some respect to the SRH final total. Heinrich Klaasen was simply superb in his excellent ton scoring an 104 off just 51 balls , studded with 8 fours and six sixes. Harry Brook not out 27 off 19 balls provided the late cameo as SRH finished at 186/ 5 in their 20 overs. A something to bowl at against the powerful RCB batting- line-up.
RCB bowling figures read : Mohammed Siraj 1/ 17 ( 4 overs) , Wayne Parnell 0/ 35 ( 4 overs) , Michael Bracewell 2/ 13 ( 2 overs) , Shahbaz Ahmed 1/ 38 ( 3 overs) , Harshal Patel 1/ 37 ( 4 overs) , Karn Sharma 0/ 45 ( 4 overs)
RCB in reply , showed intent and aggression from the start with Virat Kohli and skipper Faf du Plessis going after the bowling . SRH bowlers had no answer. Virat and du Plessis in- fact made a mockery of the chase and nearly took their team home . The duo smashed 172 in 17. 5 overs before Kohli fell. But not before the imperious Virat hit his sixth IPL ton . A scintillating exhibition of power batting . Virat scored exactly 100 off 63 balls with 12 fours and four sixes. du Plessis in fine form too hits a superb before been dismissed for 71 ( 47 balls, 7 fours, 2 sixes) . Glenn Maxwell not out 5 and Michael Bracewell not out 4 completed the formalities. RCB romping home by 8 wickets reaching 187/ 2 in 19. 2 overs.
In a rather forgettable campaign , SRH bowlers had an off- day and had no answer to Virat and Faf’s batting prowess. The SRH bowling figures were : Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1/ 48 ( 4 overs) , Abhishek Sharma 0/28 ( 3 overs) , T Natarajan 1/ 34 ( 4 overs) , Kartik Tyagi 1/21 (1.2 overs) , Nitish Reddy 0/ 19 ( 2 overs) , Mayank Dagar 0/ 25 ( 4 overs) , Glenn Phillips 0/10 ( 1 over)
Match: IPL 2023, 65th Match
Venue: Hyderabad | Date: May 18, 2023
