Ace Indian batter Virat Kohli smashed his second half-century in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Monday night. Batting against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), the former captain scored a 44-ball 61 and shared a 96-run stand for the opening wicket before getting dismissed by Amit Mishra.
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Kohli’s got off to a great start against LSG, firing against the likes of Avesh Khan, Krunal Pandya, and Mark Wood. He amassed 42 runs in the powerplay, his highest score in the first six overs in an IPL game. But from there on, he turned a bit cautious, and the frequency of his boundaries lessened. He took 10 balls to reach his fifty and this did not go unnoticed as commentator Simon Doull pointed out on air that Kohli was playing ‘for a personal milestone’.
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“Virat Kohli started off like a train. He was hammering shots. But from 42 to 40 the took 10 balls. He’s concerned about his personal milestone. I don’t think there’s room for that in this game anymore. You’ve just got to keep going especially with wickets in hand at that stage. You’ve got to keep going," he said.
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After Kohli’s fifty, RCB skipper Faf du Plessis made an unbeaten 79 off 46 balls while Glenn Maxwell also struck a blistering half-century to power Royal Challengers Bangalore to an imposing 212.
Du Plessis opened up with three huge hits over the fence off Bishnoi in the 15th over as RCB raced to 137 for one. Maxwell matched stroke for stroke, punishing Avesh for back-to-back maximums to bring up his fifty off just 24 balls. Such was the onslaught that the duo brought up their century partnership in just 44 deliveries.
This isn’t the first time that Doull lashed out at a star batter in a T20 league. During a Pakistan Super League game last month, the former New Zealand cricketer launched an attack against Babar Azam for prioritising his century. The Quetta Gladiators captain had taken 14 balls to notch triple figures from 83 off 46.
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