The way Virat and Devdutt batted, it was unbelievable, says RCB all-rounder Pandya

Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) all-rounder Krunal Pandya lauded veteran and star player Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal for their match-winning partnership which helped the team post a five-wicket win over Gujarat Titans at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.

Sudharsan century goes in vain as Bengaluru cruise to an easy five-wicket win over Gujarat

The victory was built around a commanding partnership between Kohli (81 off 44) and Padikkal (55 off 27) in a 200-plus chase.  The pair added 115 runs in 59 balls to shift the momentum decisively in RCB’s favour, before Krunal Pandya finished the chase with a brisk 23 off 12 balls.

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“Anything above 200 is always a tough chase because you have to keep going at almost 10 runs per over. The way Virat and Dev batted, some of those shots were unbelievable. I’m glad I could contribute and finish the game, nothing beats getting those two points,” said Krunal Pandya.

RCB’s bowling unit also produced a strong comeback at the death, restricting Gujarat Titans to just over 200 after a strong start. “It was a really good wicket to bat on, but to restrict them from a position where they were almost 170 for one or two to 205 was a very commanding effort. Credit goes to all the bowlers, everyone stepped up when it mattered,” the all-rounder said.

“We knew we had to build a big partnership and put the team in a strong position. Once we got the start, it was about taking it as deep as possible and making sure we kept the pressure on the opposition,” said the in-form Padikkal.

Pandya thanks home fans

The victory also marked the end of RCB’s campaign at the MChinnaswamy Stadium in the regular season. Padikkal lauded the incredible support from the fans. “Fans, thank you so much. You guys are really, really special. Every single game you turn up and really get behind the side no matter what.”

In another milestone, Virat Kohli crossed 800 fours and 300 sixes in the IPL. He now holds the record for the most fours in IPL history and sits third on the all-time sixes list behind Chris Gayle and Rohit Sharma, while also closing in on 9000 IPL runs.