'It was very important to achieve these two points in front of her,' says the RCB skipper.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli has dedicated his side's much-needed win over Mumbai Indians (MI) in their last Indian Premier League (IPL) game to his actress wife Anushka Sharma, who celebrated her 30th birthday on Tuesday.
RCB beat three-time champions and title holders MI by 14 runs in Bengaluru to keep itself afloat in the ongoing IPL by climbing up to fifth position in the eight-team competition. And Kohli said the win was a birthday gift for his wife Anushka, who was present in the stands to root for him and his team. "We needed that win. It is a very important win at such an important stage of the tournament. Tonight was an occasion we needed those two points. This is the push we needed," Kohli said after the win. "We should take this confidence forward. My wife is here and it's her birthday. This was a little gift for her. It was very important to achieve these two points in front of her," he added.
Cheered by the Bollywood star Anushka among the thousands of vociferous fans from the M Chinnaswamy Stadium stands on Tuesday night, Kohli’s RCB defeated the struggling MI to post their third win in eight games matches and stay alive for the Playoffs spot.
Defending a challenging 167/7, RCB restricted defending champions Mumbai Indians to 154/7 to win by 14 runs and move to fifth on the points table with six points, pushing MI to seventh. RCB’s first win this season while defending was also MI’s sixth defeat from eight encounters.
Earlier, choosing to bowl first on winning the toss, MI bowlers exploited a difficult batting track but leaked a few runs towards to end to allow Royal Challengers Bangalore post 167/7.
Captain Virat Kohli (32) and Brendon McCullum (37) added 60 quick runs in the middle overs to help the side recover from a slow start but Hardik Pandya (3/28) scalped three batsmen and effected a run out to stop the hosts from running away with a big total.
Colin de Grandhomme (23 from 10) hit three sixes in the last over, bowled by fellow New Zealander Mitchell McClenaghan to provide a flourishing finish to the innings. Opener Manan Vohra (45) played a useful knock at the top before being trapped by Mayank Markande.
As the wicket offered turned and pacers too generated pace, Mumbai Indians succeeded in straight-jacketing the RCB batsmen. Since it had rained, there was dampness in the wicket, causing the ball to come a slow on the bat. Vohra broke the shackles by creaming off 22 runs from South African all-rounder JP Duminy’s second over.
McClenaghan, though, kept troubling Quinton de Kock (7), who struggled badly to connect the bat with the ball and was eventually caught brilliantly by Rohit Sharma at short mid-wicket off the Kiwi paceman. Considering the conditions, expectedly, all three spinners were employed by captain Rohit Sharma. Krunal Pandya turned the ball away from McCullum while impressive Markande yet again kept the batsmen in a tight leash.
The spinner was hit for a six by Vohra but Markande trapped his Ranji teammate from Punjab. It brought skipper Kohli at the crease as he came to bat at number four from his usual one-down position. The hosts claimed 20 runs from the 10th over, bowled by Hardik with McCullum hitting him for two sixes and a four.
Runs began to flow with both Kohli, who launched Markande for a huge six, and McCullum finding their strokes. Hardik was bang on target when the Kiwi batsman attempted a single and was run out. It ended the 60-run partnership between the two. Pandya then ripped apart the RCB batting line-up by dismissing Mandeep Singh (14), who looked in good touch, Kohli and Washington Sundar (1) in the 18th over.
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 "Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma after RCB's win on Tuesday")
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