Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) opener Virat Kohli was once again heartbroken as the franchise he has been playing for since the inaugural edition failed to get past the eliminator stage. In the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 eliminator, Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals (RR) beat RCB by four wickets with six balls to spare to advance to Qualifier 2. After shaking hands with RR batters and hugging a retiring Dinesh Karthik, a dejected Kohli dislodged the bails.
Kohli got off to a decent start in the powerplay overs. He hit a six and three fours before falling prey to Yuzvendra Chahal. Resorting to his new-found weapon in the arsenal, Kohli went for a slogsweep against the leg-spinner but could not clear the deep mid-wicket fielder patroling the boundary. He departed for a 24-ball 33 as RCB lost two wickets for 56 in the eighth over.
Defending a total of 172, Kohli was once again agile in the field while Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green dropped a catch each. Kohli attacked the ball as he patrolled the boundaries. He pulled off the run out of Dhruv Jurel with a brilliant throw from the boundary. However, his efforts in the field were not enough to help RCB beat RR.
Kohli’s unmatched milestone
During his knock, Kohli achieved another milestone. He became the first batter in the history of the IPL to score 8,000 runs. Despite departing for a 33-run knock, he is still leading the race of orange cap and is most likely to win it this season. The 35-year-old scored 741 runs from 15 games at an average of 61.75 including one century and five half-centuries. His strike rate was also impressive at 154.70.
Likely to win Orange Cap
The second batter in the race for orange cap is Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Ruturaj Gaikwad. CSK have already been eliminated from the tournament. Next batter on the list is RR batter Riyan Parag who has scored 567 runs from 13 innings. He is followed by Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) Travis Head with 533 runs from 13 innings. Another batter in the race is RR captain Samson. He has scored 521 runs from 14 innings. However, it will take a monumental effort from these batters to take the orange cap off Kohli's head.
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