RCB vs GT, IPL 2022 stat attack: Virat Kohli breaches 7,000-barrier in Bangalore’s emphatic win – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

Virat Kohli rediscovered his old batting form and snapping a string of low scores as his 54-ball 73 helped Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeat Gujarat Titans by eight wickets at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium to keep their IPL 2022 playoff hopes alive.

Kohli was back at his vintage best and was timing his strokes beautifully, which will not doubt have pleased his teammates and fans. The former India and RCB skipper did not take long to start expressing himself at the centre after getting off to a cautious start, and batted like a man with a purpose.

He was ably supported by RCB skipper Faf du Plessis, who scored 44 off 38 balls, as the pair stitched a 115-run stand for the opening wicket, which laid the foundation for the team’s successful chase.

Virat Kohli became the first batter in the history of the Indian Premier League to score 7,000 career runs. Sportzpics

Kohli had been dropped by GT all-rounder Rashid Khan on 16, and he made the most of the lifeline as he scored freely all over the park. Both sixes off his bat came off Khan’s bowling, the first one bringing up his half-century in just 33 balls while the second one took him into the 70s. Rashid though, ended up deceiving him with a googly to get him stumped in the 17th over.

RCB all-rounder Glenn Maxwell then took over in the chase, and blasted an unbeaten 40 off just 18 deliveries, collecting five fours and two sixes along the way that dashed any faint hopes GT would have had of mounting a late comeback after Kohli’s exit.

Table leaders Gujarat Titans, who had beaten du Plessis and Co by eight wickets at the same venue earlier this season, opted to bat and, riding on skipper Hardik Pandya’s quickfire 62 off 47 balls, posted 168/5 on the board. Pandya shared a 61-run fourth-wicket stand with David Miller (34), while keeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha provided the early impetus with 31 off 22 balls.

As we look back at the 67th game of the season, we take a look at some interesting numbers:

— Kohli became the first batter to breach the 7,000 run-mark in the history of the league. What’s even more special about his feat is the fact that all his runs have come for a single franchise.

— Kohli also becomes the first player in the history of the league to score 3,000 runs while batting second.

— Kohli was adjudged the Player of the Match for his knock. He is now joint-third along with Suresh Raina (14) in the list of players with most PoTM awards in the IPL, behind Rohit Sharma (18) and MS Dhoni (17).

— Matthew Wade now has the lowest average among batters in the top three positions with a minimum of 100 runs in IPL 2022, his average going down to 14.2 today.

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