Royal Challengers Bangalore won by 8 wickets over Sunrisers Hyderabad at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on May 18 in the ongoing IPL 2023. Royal Challengers Bangalore won the toss and opted to bowl. Sunrisers Hyderabad managed to post 186 runs in 20 overs, courtesy of Heinrich Klaasen’s stunning century. While chasing, Virat Kohli smashed a 62-ball 100 and Faf du Plessis also scored 71 off 47 as well and helped the side win quite comfortably as well.
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Here is what the captains and the player of the match said after the game:
Virat Kohli, Player of the Match said as quoted by Cricbuzz: Quite special considering the magnitude of the game. Thought SRH got a very good score. Ball was gripping as well. We wanted a good solid start. Didn’t expect to be 172/0. But that’s how well Faf and me have played this season. Faf’s been on a different level. I’ve had a quiet couple of games. The way I was hitting in the nets wasn’t transitioning into the middle in the last 2-3 matches. Wanted to make an impact and my intent was to go after the bowlers from ball 1 – something I’ve done through the season. There was a dip but I wanted to pick my game up at the right time. Never look at past records (not great numbers against SRH). Was telling the boys – the way I’m looked at as an IPL player as well is like ‘yeah, he’s fine, few impact knocks’. It’s my 6th IPL hundred. I don’t give myself enough credit sometimes because I put myself under so much stress already. I don’t care what anyone says on the outside. That’s their opinion. When you’re in that situation yourself, you know how to win games of cricket. I’ve done that over a long period of time. It’s not like when I play I don’t win games for my team. It’s playing the situation that I take pride in. I’ve never been a guy who plays so many fancy shots – was having a chat with Aiden as well. We have to play 12 months of the year. For me it’s not about playing fancy shots and throwing my wicket away.”
“We’ve got Test cricket (coming up) after the IPL, have to stay true to my technique. When I can make an impact in an important game, it gives me confidence, it gives the team confidence. I think it’s the tattoos (secret behind partnership with Faf). We almost have 900 runs together this season. Very similar how I used to feel with AB and me batting together. Just an understanding of where the game is going and what needs to be done. Having an experienced guy who’s captained at the international level – it’s been a beautiful transition for us coming together for RCB at the top and making an impact. Crowd here was amazing today as well. Told Faf as well. Just felt like it was a home game for us. They were cheering for us, taking my name as well. I feel you can’t create this. I haven’t forced anyone to follow me or be inspired by me. I’m just myself on the field. I do everything on the field very honestly and I think that resonates with people. It’s an amazing position to be in that you can provide happiness to so many people. That’s something I love to see when they have a smile on their face when I perform,” Virat Kohli concluded.
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Faf du Plessis said as quoted by Cricbuzz: Amazing chase isn’t it! That’s my first reaction. Did feel walking off after first innings that it was a very good wicket. Felt 200 was a par score. Not many balls turned for the spinners. We’re doing the right things from a batting perspective. In previous game we were also clinical with the ball. We complement each other really well (partnership with Kohli). We play in very different areas so it’s difficult to bowl to. We’re good mates on and off the field. We’re going back to Chinnaswamy which will be an amazing game. A lot of fans coming in and another must-win for us.
Glenn Maxwell said as quoted by Cricbuzz: It’s been a long time on the road for us, we knew we had to be in the position of striking distance. The last two games have really perked up the squad. We feel we are peaking at the right time. It was sensational, even some of the shots through the covers off the back foot shows the form he is in at the moment. He was really hard to bowl to, the spinners and pacers if they were short, he punished them, hats off to him [on Klaasen]. Siraj all his four overs – I think he went for under 20 with not all assistance from the wicket and Parnell as well. We were one seamer short on that pitch and it did not spin that much in the first innings. When those guys are chasing, they know exactly what to do. They are such good players; the left-arm spin was from one end and they knew what to do from the other end. They cashed in when they got some pace on the ball. It will be nice to go back to our home fans, we had 5 games there and the crowd were roaring. It will be nice to take on the table-toppers with our players purring.
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Aiden Markram said as quoted by Cricbuzz: We batted pretty well. We could have found a little runs out there in the powerplay. Great contribution from Klaasen. But still was a good score. Great support for not just us but for RCB as well. We couldn’t give them a win. We all hate losing. We would be out there looking for a win. Hopefully have smiles at the end of the campaign. Great knock from Faf and Virat. We had a look at some guys moving forward. Probably one less option in the powerplay. Kartik was put under pressure. The plans were in place but the execution didn’t fall in place. Mayank was impressive. Special knock from Klaasen. Super happy for the guy. I don’t think he would have dreamed of getting a hundred in the IPL. Unfortunately ended in a losing cause.
