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Virat Kohli gave his best in the last two matches for Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, but while RCB emerged victorious against Punjab Kings, riding on his fiery 77, they succumbed to a loss against Kolkata Knight Riders despite his 59-ball 83. While it is still early days in IPL 2024, Kohli, in a dressing-room speech after the match against KKR on Friday, sent out a “serious” message to his teammates.
Kohli‘s second consecutive half-century score was supported by Cameron Green in a 65-run stand for the second wicket, followed by a 42-run partnership with Glenn Maxwell for the third wicket. But with none of them failing to convert their starts, RCB were restricted to just 186 for six after KKR‘s slower-delivery ploy worked to perfection in the second half of the innings.
KKR later chased down the score, following a blazing start from Sunil Narine and a 29-ball fifty from Venkatesh Iyer, with 19 balls to spare. It was KKR’s eight win at the Chinnaswamy, the joint-most by any IPL side at the venue against RCB, which includes a streak of victories since 2015.
After the match, Kohli was a handed the Player of the Match hamper in the RCB dressing room, but while he started off on a humorous note as he accepted the award, the former RCB captain, speaking to his teammates, reckoned that they are better than what they performed on Friday against KKR. Kohli urged the players to show courage and belief in their skill as RCB look forward to the rest of the season.
“On a more serious note, we had a tough night, we all know that. We are much better than that, so, as long as we accept it, and move forward with the same courage, and the same belief in our skills. That is all we can come up with, so let us stay on that path,” Kohli said.
Following a second defeat in IPL 2024, the other being against defending champions Chennai Super Kings in the season opener last week, RCB now stand sixth in the table with two points from their win against Punjab.
Faf du Plessis’ men will next face Lucknow Super Giants at home on April 2.
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