IPL 2024, RCB vs PBKS: Vintage Virat Kohli lifts Bengaluru to 1st win of season

Virat Kohli turned the clock back to produce a vintage performance on March 25 as Royal Challengers Bengaluru got the first win of their season against Punjab Kings in a thrilling finish at the Chinnaswamy stadium on March 25.

Mahipal Lomror and Dinesh Karthik would then put the finishing touches as RCB got over the line with 4 wickets remaining and in the final over with a thrilling finish, keeping the trend of close games in the IPL 2024 alive.

The RCB bowlers also were in top nick with a disciplined performance, but Kohli was certainly the man of the hour.

Vintage Kohli sets up the chase

The first match against CSK saw Virat Kohli not get a lot of strike in the powerplay overs with Faf du Plessis going after the bowlers. Today, Kohli would be thrust into the thick of things early on as he took guard to face Sam Curran.

The star batter would get a lucky break when Jonny Bairstow dropped him at slips and the ball went for a boundary. Many felt the early nerves could be there for Kohli but he let the bat do the talking for him.

Three more boundaries followed in that first over from Curran and none of them showed any bit of doubt. This was followed by a few more delightful shots, including one of his arch-nemesis Kagiso Rabada.

But the South African pacer would give Kohli some food for thought as he dismissed Du Plessis and Cameron Green quickly. Rajat Patidar, who has been in a rough patch recently, would join the star batter but struggled to find any rhythm and was dismissed by Harpreet Brar.

Brar’s love affair with RCB continued when he nabbed the wicket of Glenn Maxwell, which brought Anuj Rawat to the crease. Amidst all this, Kohli got to his 100th 50-plus score in T20 cricket.

By then, it was evident that Kohli needed to take his side home and after a time-out, he would shift into top gear. Two boundaries off Harshal Patel would set the tone for the finale, but the former RCB man would get the better of the star batter as he was dismissed for 77 off 49 deliveries.

Rawat, the hero against CSK, would soon follow Kohli back to the pavilion as he was trapped in front of the stumps by Curran. Mahipal Lomror came in next and started with a boundary before Dinesh Karthik ensured the over was a good one for RCB with another four.

Over 18 was from Arshdeep, but he would be hit for a six and a boundary from Lomror to ensure that the fans were on the edge of their seats with 23 needed in the final two.

Karthik would get a six and four off the 19th over of Harshal before he would seal the game in the final over. He would hit a six and boundary off Arshdeep to send the fans into raptures.

RCB bowling makes amends for CSK outing
The biggest positive for RCB would have been the disciplined bowling they showed. Often in the opener against CSK, they were considered to be one-dimensional for sticking to just bouncers.

On Monday, this plan was certainly changed Du Plessis as he would use his bowlers smartly and they would execute their plans perfectly. Siraj would get things going for them as he got the wicket of Bairstow.

While Prabhsimran and Shikhar Dhawan would steady things up, the feeling was that RCB was well in control. The 55-run partnership would end when Maxwell dismissed Prabhsimran as RCB would continue to tighten the screws.

Alzarri and Maxwell would deliver Livingstone and Dhawan after a brief partnership as PBKS were well and truly on the ropes at 98 for 4 in 12.1 overs. Jitesh and Curran would stitch together an important partnership to make sure they got to the 150-run mark.

Yash Dayal was certainly a treasure for RCB on the day as he would have figures of 1 for 23 in his 4 overs. He would get Curran out with a fierce bouncer as the focus shifted to Jitesh.

The PBKS vice-captain couldn’t inspire a late flourish, but they found a hero in Shashank Singh. The batter would get 20 runs off Alzarri as PBKS got to a good total of 176 in 20 overs.

Apart from an off-day for Mayank Dagar, the rest of the RCB bowlers would deliver on an important day to ensure they got their first points of the season.