IPL 2023, SRH vs RCB emotional rollercoaster: Virat Kohli goes ballic, rookies are cannon fodder & Nitish Reddy pulls back the odd one

Kohli goes ballic
For much of the innings, Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis were batting neck and neck. One would hit a four, so would the other, The South African completed his fifty in 35 balls with a double. Two balls later, Kohli reached his fifty, from 34 balls, with a thunderous pull. At the start of the 15th over, Kohli was on 65 and Du Plessis 63.
Then, Kohli were ballic, blasting four fours in the 15th over, bowled poor Bhuvneshwar Kumar (a thud over cover, a lofted extra cover drive, an all muscle on-drive and a misfielded slap through deep point), Kohli moved to 81 in the wink of an eye. The next over, a murderous pull off T Natarajan soared him into the 90s.
And the over after, he smeared Bhuvneshwar over midwicket to complete his first IPL century in four years, before celebrating the milestone with the widest of glees the arena saw all night long. Du Plessis, in the meantime, had second-fiddled to 67.

A magnificent CENTURY Virat Kohli 🔥🔥
Take a bow, King Kohli!
His SIXTH century in the IPL.#TATAIPL #SRHvRCB pic.twitter.com/gd39A6tp5d
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 18, 2023
End of the road?
In a must-win game, Royal Challengers Bangalore had Anuj Rawat behind the stumps instead of the experienced Dinesh Karthik. The veteran had failed to live up to his billing, and one wonders if it’s the end of the road for him. Karthik is still the better wicketkeeper, as evidenced Rawat fumbling a leg-side wide on the first ball of the game, but the youngster showed in the game against Rajasthan Royals that he is capable of providing the required impetus with the bat in the end overs, which RCB has struggled with and what was a key role for Karthik. But he managed just 140 runs over the season at a strike rate of under 136. His highest score has been just 30 and he has failed to have the desired impact in a top-heavy line-up such as RCB.
– Tushar Bhaduri

A marvellous victory the @RCBTweets
They win 8 wickets and add two all important points to their tally.@imVkohli leads the chase with a fantastic 💯
Scorecard – https://t.co/stBkLWLmJS #TATAIPL #SRHvRCB #IPL2023 pic.twitter.com/JxTtK5llfl
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 18, 2023
Wickets on free snacks for Bracewell
Michael Bracewell could not believe his luck. With two ordinary deliveries, he dislodged Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi in his first over. Surprised when Faf du Plessis asked him to warm-up and bowl the fifth over, he began with a rank loose ball. A proper warm-up ball of the past, shot and wide, or as Chris Gayle dismisses in commentary, free snacks. But guess what, Sharma, eager for boundaries to jumpstart his innings, went hard at the ball, He timed it well, but straight into the hands of Mahipal Lormor at cover point. He hid his disbelief with palms on mouth. But fortune winked again on him, as Tripathi shuffled across and tried to sweep him fine. But the ball was too flat and full for the shot and he ended up offering a simple catch at short fine leg. This was not quite a snack, but still not wicket-worthy.
– Sandip G

Bracewell is on 🔥🔥
Picks up two wickets in a span of three deliveries.
Abishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi depart.
Live – https://t.co/stBkLWLmJS #TATAIPL #SRHvRCB #IPL2023 pic.twitter.com/puKMiWqsON
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 18, 2023
In a different class
No team wishes to lose early wickets. But Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi getting out in the fifth over may have been a boon for Sunrisers Hyderabad as it brought Heinrich Klaasen to the middle. In a hot-and-mostly-cold season, the South African wicketkeeper-batsman has been one of the few consent performers for the team. Far from being circumspect when he came in, Klaasen immediately put the pressure back on the bowlers, targeting the spinners whenever they erred in length. The pull shot was his favourite mode of attack, and anything even marginally short was dispatched to and over the wide long-on boundary. When leg-spinner Karn Sharma pitched one up, he was pumped straight down the ground for a six. It seemed as if Klaasen was batting on an altogether different pitch as his skipper Aiden Markram was struggling to score a run a ball, and was put out of his misery when he attempted an ugly reverse-swipe off left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed to be bowled.
– Tushar Bhaduri

Did You Watch ?
A maximum to bring up the 💯
Heinrich Klaasen scored a brilliant 104 off 51 deliveries.
Live – https://t.co/stBkLWLmJS #TATAIPL #SRHvRCB #IPL2023 pic.twitter.com/B6t2C4jfy1
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 18, 2023
The Spin Slayer from Kingsmead
The most destructive batsman of spin bowling this season has not been an Indian, or anyone bred on subcontinental turners, but a South African from Durban, raised on the Kingsmead deck, the spin-friendliest of decks in South Africa, where spinners from the days of Hugh Tayfield to Keshav Maharaj have prospered, where Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, Mushtaq Ahmed, Graeme Swann and Ravindra Jadeja have their names inscribed on the honours’ board. Not surprisingly, Heinrich Klaasen is a ruthless destroyer of spin bowling, averaging a strike rate of 181 (the second best is Sanju Samson at 170). He displayed his spin-mastery with an onslaught on Karn Sharma and Shahbaz Ahmed, judging their lengths early and quickly getting into the perfect position. Sharma bowls short of length, he rams onto the back-foot and powers him through mid-wicket. He goes good length, and Klaasen jinks down the wicket and heaves him over the sight-screen. In the first 20 balls of spinners he faced, he hammered 45 runs, prompting an angry turf-kick from his compatriot and RCB captain Faf du Plessis.
– Sandip G
Rookies as cannon fodder
Kartik Tyagi had a wry smile on his face. Virat Kohli had just creamed his length ball, bowled in the channel, on the up but all along the ground, wide of mid-off for a boundary. For upcoming Indian cricketers, especially bowlers, bowling to Kohli would be a dream come true, and getting his wicket would be the icing on the cake. But with qualification for the playoffs on the line for Royal Challengers Bangalore and a significant total to chase, Kohli was keen to do the heavy lifting in the Powerplay, and dealt mostly in boundaries, starting with the first two balls of the innings. With a past-their-best Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan as their main bowlers, supported rookies, the already-eliminated Sunrisers Hyderabad were little more than cannon fodder for Kohli and Faf du Plessis.
– Tushar Bhaduri

ICYMI!
A treat for the #RCB fans right here in Hyderabad.@imVkohli goes big with a maximum.#TATAIPL #SRHvRCB pic.twitter.com/KbojxpdFvG
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 18, 2023
Kohli special flick
After a stream of gorgeous cover-drives, Virat Kohli unfurled a flick that stopped the stadium, before it erupted in both joy and wonderment. Nitish Kumar banged in a short-of-length ball. Kohli’s first reaction seemed like he would pull the ball, but realising that the ball was not short enough, he flicked his wrs through the ball. Kohli liked the shot, and he kept watching it sail beyond the chainlink fence, excitement written large on his face. Even more excited was his partner Faf du Plessis, who let out an instinctive ‘ooh’ before applauding the shot. Kohli thanked him with a warm smile and stood soaked in the adulation of the crowd. Nitish stared into the skies half in pain and half in awe. Sad that he was hit for six, but in utter awe of a Kohli special.
– Sandip G
Nitish ‘s boundary saving heroics
Debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy endured a torrid night. His first two overs were plundered for 19 runs, and he was stripped off Faf du Plessis’ wicket after a marginal wa-high no-ball on review. But such setbacks did not prevent him from making a terrific boundary-line save. Du Plessis had nailed the pull off a Mayank Dagar short ball. A four seemed the inevitable destiny but Kumar hared in from deep square leg to deep mid-wicket, sprung with the bounce of the ball and palmed the ball away with his left-hand like a crosscourt forehand to thwart the boundary. His footwork was sumptuous too—the laces threatened to nudge the advertisement cushion, but it only threatened and did not nudge as he kept his poise without hardly looking imbalanced.
– Sandip G
Sun has long set
Their season has long been over and in hindsight, it was never meant to be for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2023. Their batting lacked an Indian star of the highest calibre and their overseas willow-wielders – with the exception of Heinrich Klaasen and one innings from Harry Brook – never came to the party. But it’s bowling that has been their traditional strength which disappointed in this campaign. Some of the decisions of the team management hardly made sense. They may have decided to try a few Indian youngsters after getting knocked out of contention, but leggie Adil Rashid never got a proper run and the handling of Umran Malik left a lot to be desired. With no Marco Jansen or Mayank Markande either, Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis were laid out a feast.
– Tushar Bhaduri