Xtra Time Web Desk: Royal Challengers Bangalore Captain Virat Kohli on Friday lived up to his expectation by playing a match-winning knock in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2019) match against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens. It was the batting display of Moeen Ali (66 off 28) and Kohli (100 off 58) that paved the way for the visitors to a 10 runs win over KKR.
“Felt really good, especially winning here. Not walking to an interview straight after the game is a relief. You have to leave it to the bowler in those situations. I think the way Stoinis bowled that 19th over was very good. Those three balls were crucial in the end. Both Stoinis and Moeen showed composure and that’s what you expect of your teammates on the field,” said Kohli at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Kohli admitted that they were targeting to set a score around 175 during the second timeout. But eventually Bangalore ended up posting 213 on board.
“Well, to be honest, our communication at the second timeout was to score 170-175.We didn’t think we will end up scoring moiré than 200 runs to be honest. The wicket was doing a bit early on. A bit of luck also went our way. I just think the way Moeen batted, took the momentum away from them,” said Virat.
The Royal Challengers missed the presence of AB de Villiers on the field as he was nursing a head injury.
Talking about AB’s absence, Kohli said, “It was important as a senior player in the team to bat deep as AB wasn’t playing. But Moeen made my job a lot easy. I could accelerate in the end perfectly. It was very disappointing for AB as he couldn’t make it but before leaving the hotel room I told him I will give him a hug tonight. So he should be happy.”
Andre Russell almost took the away from RCB, like the away game in Chinnaswamy. Talking about Russell’s knock, Kohli said, “The way he batted was outstanding. He is hitting the ball as well as anyone in the past I have seen.
Lastly, the RCB captain heaped high praises on Dale Steyn. The Proteas fast bowler made an immediate impact, playing his first game for RCB.
“Having Dale early on, it gave much confidence to Saini as well. Steyn taking a couple of wickets in the Powerful also worked to our favour,” signed off Kohli.