Apart from the match, there was an incident on the field during the Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Kolkata Knight Riders match. During one of the strategic timeouts in the RCB innings, Gautam Gambhir shook hands with Virat Kohli. They hugged too. For the uninitiated, Kohli and Gambhir have had a turbulent past. The two stars were involved in a highly publicized on-field argument that also involved Naveen-ul-Haq during the IPL 2024. However, when Kohli and Gambhir came face to face on Friday, a different scene played out in the M Chinnaswamy- stadium.
Former Indian cricket team star Irfan Pathan, who has played with both Gambhir and Kohli, commented on the incident.
“Gautam Gambhir, the senior man, even came forward. Sometimes you cross the line, but once that thing is over, if you meet in the future, if you meet now, you meet each other beautifully. This is what we have seen,” Irfan Pathan said on Star Sports.
Talking about the match, with a scintillating batting display, Kolkata Knight Riders became the first team to win away from home in this IPL after their comprehensive seven-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday. The tone of the game was set on the second ball of the first over when Philip Salt smoked the ball for a six over midwicket. In the next ball, the ball was sent to a four within the blink of an eye. Salt hit another six to put the RCB on the back foot. Mohammed Siraj, who bowled the first over of the inning, conceded 18 runs while defending 183.
Sunil Narine, playing his 500th T20 match, joined the side and both batters put on an opening stand of 86 runs.
After the opening pair were dismissed, Venkatesh Iyer and skipper Shreyas Iyer anchored KKR’s innings with an exceptional strokeplay.
Venkatesh completed his 50 in 29 balls but ended up losing his wicket on the next ball. Iyer and Rinku Singh stayed till the end to ensure RCB crossed the finish line with more than three overs to spare.
Earlier in the innings put into bat, RCB batters Faf Du Plessis and Virat Kohli came to the crease to open the innings.
Both batters scored a 17-run partnership and skipper Du Plessis was sent back to the pavilion after eight runs.
After the skipper’s dismissal, right-hander Cameron Green came to bat. The side completed their 50 on the fourth ball of the sixth over when Green hit a boundary off Sunil Narine’s bowling.
Kohli and Green completed their 50-run partnership.
The Australian all-rounder was dismissed by Andre Russell on the last ball of the ninth over when the team score was 82 after that, having scored 33 runs off 21 balls with the help of four boundaries and two sixes.
Green’s dismissal led to the arrival of power hitter Glenn Maxwell.
Kohli completed his 50 in the 11th over when he singled off Varun Chakravarthy’s bowling. In the same over, the Bengaluru franchise crossed the 100-run mark when Maxwell hit a boundary on the penultimate ball of the over.
Maxwell was dismissed after scoring 28 runs off 19 balls with three fours and a six. The right batter was dismissed by Narine.
After Maxwell’s wicket, Rajat Patidar came to bat. He was sent off when the team score was 144. The right-handed hitter scored just three runs before returning to the locker room.
After Patider’s departure, wicketkeeper-batsman Anuj Rawat came to bat. He managed to score just three runs before being dismissed in the 18th over with a score of 151.
In the end, Dinesh Karthik played a quick cameo of 20 runs off just eight balls with the help of three maximums and Kohli ended his innings with an unbeaten 83 runs in 59 balls, which was peppered with four boundaries and four sxes.
For KKR, two wickets each were taken by Harshit Rana and Russell. One wicket was bagged by Sunil Narine.
With ANI inputs
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