The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) scripted one of the sweetest victories in the IPL, defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 8 wickets. RCB’s opening pair – Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli – has been the most successful this season and on Thursday night, they took their partnership a notch higher. The duo stitched a 172-run stand in the chase of 187 which is now the highest opening wicket stand this season. More importantly, the Kohli-Du Plessis pair has scored 872 runs in 13 games in the IPL 2023.
The partnership saw Virat Kohli getting his first IPL hundred since 2019 and equalling the record of Chris Gayle for most tons in league history. While the former scored 100 runs off 63 balls, the RCB captain made 71 off 47 deliveries, with the help of 2 sixes and 7 boundaries.
Both star batters of RCB joined each other in a chat after the game. In a video posted on iplt20.com, Kohli could be heard revealing that Du Plessis had a gut feeling that his opening partner will get a hundred in Hyderabad.
“Just before went into bat, Faf said, ‘I’ve got a gut feeling that one of the top three is going to get a hundred’. I said if the odds over someone getting a century, it looks like you, given the way you are batting. He said, ‘I think, it’s you’. So, you called it. I never felt like, it’s going to happen so quickly in 2-3 over’s time. But I’m happier about the fact that we got a decent start. 172 on the board, that partnership set things nicely for us and this is exactly what we play for,” Kohli said.
!Presenting a interview with @RCBTweets opening duo – @imVkohli & captain @faf1307
VK & Faf talking cricket is all heart & wholesome ☺️ – By @28anand
#TATAIPL | #SRHvRCBhttps://t.co/urhLptk5Ud pic.twitter.com/xU6W0tn3P0
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 19, 2023
“I’ve batting in the nets, but I couldn’t really bring that game to the surface, in the middle, and I felt this pitch was nice with the new ball especially from me to get going as I had in the first 8-9 games. I wanted to pick my game at that stage because you and Maxi (Glenn Maxwell) have taken the game to another level. So, I wanted to join in and make an impact as well,” he added.
Also Read: Virat Kohli Brings up Record 6th IPL Century | Watch
Speaking about his partnership throughout the season, Kohli said he has enjoyed batting with Faf a lot and feels the same connect that he had with AB de Villiers until 2021.
“Batting with you has always been amazing. I’ve always watched you perform really well in T20 cricket but for me, this has been your best T20 season across any competition. And I hope that continues” Kohli said.
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