Virat Kohli praised his Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) teammates for their ‘tremendous efforts’ to beat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 82 runs in IPL 2020 on Monday. Kohli and co put up a completely dominant performance against the two-time champions and pipped KKR to third in the IPL 2020 points table. RCB now have five wins from their opening seven games and are equal on points with table leaders Mumbai Indians and second-placed Delhi Capitals (all have 10 points each). The win was also a second consecutive victory for Kohli’s men and he was pumped up and full of energy throughout the game. Virat Kohli and Ab de Villiers Become First Pair in Indian Premier League to Share Ten 100-Run Partnerships.

Kohli later took to social media to praise his team for the wonderful performance. “Tremendous effort by the boys. We march on,” Kohli wrote on Twitter alongside a collage of pictures from the game. The RCB and team India captain had also reserved special praise for AB de Villiers whose whirlwind innings of 73 not-out from just 33 deliveries changed the game for RCB and helped them record a big win. IPL 2020 Mid-Season Prediction: RCB Likely to Seal Place in Playoffs, CSK Could Miss Final Four Finish First Time.

De Villiers, who came to the crease with RCB on 94/2 in the 13th over smashed six maximums and five boundaries and registered a half-century in just 23 deliveries to help RCB post 194 runs on the scoreboard after Kohli had opted to bat first. The former South African batsman took most of KKR pacers to the cleaners and reserved special treatment for Andre Russell, who went for 51 from his four overs.

Virat Kohli Praises RCB Teammates for Tremendous Effort

 

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Tremendous effort by the boys. We march on. 👍🏻 #PlayBold @royalchallengersbangalore

A post shared by Virat Kohli (@virat.kohli) on

 

Kohli remained not-out on 33 from 28 deliveries with just one boundary and shared an unbeaten 100-run partnership with De Villiers in just 52 deliveries. In reply, KKR never really got going in the chase. They failed to find regular boundaries and lost wickets frequently and had lost the game even before the 12th over when half of their batting order were back at the hut.

RCB next play Kings XI Punjab on October 15 (Thursday) while KKR take on defending champions Mumbai Indians a day later. RCB are placed this in the points table with 10 points while KKR a position below with eight points.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 13, 2020 10:50 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).