IPL 2023: Top 10 Memes from SRH vs RCB, Match No. 65

Courtesy of Kohli, du Plessis' jaw-dropping 172-run stand, RCB comprehensively won the clash by nine-wickets.

Published - 18 May 2023, 23:32 IST | Updated - 18 May 2023, 23:40 IST

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Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) thumped Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to an eight-wicket triumph at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday, May 18. With their humongous victory, Faf du Plessis and Co. climbed to the fourth spot of the IPL Points Table with 14 points in 13 matches.

RCB skipper Faf made the right call during the toss and decided to field first, citing that the dew would play a role and the bowl would come on to the bat well in the second innings. What followed was SRH’s opening duo of Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi departing in quick time, courtesy of Michael Bracewell, who dismissed them in the same over.

In at four, Heinrich Klaasen did not waste much time and swiftly hit the ground running with the boundaries and maximums. Meanwhile, skipper Aiden Markram kept rotating the strike as the pair raised a 76-run stand to get the innings back on track.

Soon after Markram’s dismissal for 18 off 20 balls, Klaasen continued to play his blazing knock and notched his century in mere 49 balls. He smoked eight fours and six sixes in his 51-ball 104 before his innings drew to a conclusion by pacer Harshal Patel.

With this, the orange outfit posted a competitive total of 186 runs in the first innings. Bracewell got two wickets, whereas Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj and Harshal got one wicket each.

Kohli, du Plessis blow away Hyderabad

With a mission in mind to clinch the crucial two points, the pair of Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis proved to be lethal as they got into the groove right from the word ‘go’. Kohli, who has been facing the heat for his peculiar batting approach, took the rival bowling unit to the cleaners and played numerous remarkable shots worth praising.

With hardly any respite, skipper Faf too clobbered a few of the big runs himself to keep RCB in the driver’s seat. While Kohli notched up his half-century off just 35 balls, Faf got his in mere 34 balls. The pair made the chase look pedestrian with their aggressive knocks, which left the orange outfit unable to find a comeback.

Kohli pushed further and made the job easier for the Bengaluru-based franchise as he registered his sixth ton, joint-most in the IPL, along with former teammate Chris Gayle. Kohli whipped one over deep midwicket to raise his bat for a century off just 62 balls. However, his phenomenal innings came to a screeching halt after he was holed out by Glenn Phillips at deep forward square, the very next ball.

Faf, too headed back to the dugout the next over for a magnificent score of 71 off 47 balls, featuring seven fours and two sixes. With three required off the last six balls, Bracewell hit the winning runs, which secured two points for the side. In doing so, RCB are still very much alive in the race for playoffs and have climbed to the fourth spot on the ladder with 14 points and a net run rate (NRR) of 0.180.