Virat Kohli heaped rich praise on AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell after Royal Challengers Bangalore stormed to their third straight win in the 2021 Indian Premier League in Chennai on Sunday. de Villiers made an unbeaten 76 while Maxwell scored 78 as RCB defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 38 runs to move back to the top of the points table.
On a Chennai pitch which was once again expected to aid the spinners, Varun Chakravarthy had sent shock waves through the RCB ranks in his first over of the match, removing skipper Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar. However, in a bizarre move, KKR captain Eoin Morgan took Varun Chakravarthy off the attack after his double-wicket first over.
That decision from the KKR captain went down well with Glenn Maxwell who led a super fightback. Devdutt Padikkal never got going but Maxwell played some stunning shots to take the attack to the KKR bowlers. Prasidh Krishna removed Paddiak in the 12th over and then came more pain for the KKR bowlers.
AB de Villiers joined forces with Glenn Maxwell and the two added 53 in a little over 5 overs. In fact, de Villiers carried on after Maxwell perished to Australian teammate Pat Cummins and ensured RCB posted a massive 204 for 4 off 20 overs. Virat Kohli, then, not surprisingly, was elated with his two overseas superstars.
“When he gets in with that kind of form and flow, it’s impossible to stop him. We got 40 extra runs on that pitch which slowed down. Maxi has taken to this team like duck to water. AB loves the team and they were the difference today. There are areas we can work on. We’re not getting ahead of ourselves and not getting over-excited.”
Virat Kohli was also impressed with his fast bowlers. Harshal Patel picked 2 for 17 off 4 overs while Kyle Jamieson pocketed 3 wickets. Mohammad Siraj did not pick wickets but his 3 overs went for only 17 runs.
“He (Siraj) a different bowler after the Australia tour and he shut the game out. Harshal has so much clarity in the end and I think Jamieson also bowled well. That’s the reason why we have three out of three.
