“It isn’t like he had other end operating at same tempo…”: Moody on Virat Kohli’s knock against KKR

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 30 (ANI): Following Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match, former Australia cricketer Tom Moody said that the other players in RCB did not match Virat Kohli’s tempo while batting.

With a scintillating batting display, the Kolkata Knight Riders became the first team to win away from home in this IPL following their comprehensive seven-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Friday at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Speaking on ESPNCricinfo in a video, Moody said that no one except Cameron Green matched Virat’s tempo while batting.

“It is not like he had the other end operating at the same tempo as him. The only time that was happening was when Green was at the crease and that was looking really threatening. Green was striking at 150 at that point. So that looked like a 200-plus position. But then, the adjustments were made,” said Moody.

Former New Zealand and Mumbai Indians (MI) pacer Mitchell McClenaghan lauded Virat for making adjustments in his batting according to the pitch.

“There was a period when his strike rate (Virat’s SR) was coming down and it could have affected RCB in reaching a defendable total. Then you saw Virat missing a couple of balls, which is very unlike him, the wicket was getting difficult to bat on. So to make that adjustment and be able to go at the back end was good to see. He absorbed the pressure and came out on the other side,” said the former Kiwi pacer.

After KKR won the toss, they opted to field. After losing skipper Faf early, Virat Kohli had a 65-run partnership with Cameron Green (33 in 21 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) and a 42-run stand with Glenn Maxwell (28 in 19 balls, with three fours and a six). Virat scored 83* in 59 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes and took RCB to 182/6 along with Dinesh Karthik (20* in eight balls, with three sixes) in their 20 overs.

Andre Russell (2/29) and Harshit Rana (2/39) were the pick of the bowlers for KKR.

In the run chase, Phil Salt (30 in 20 balls, with two fours and two sixes) and Sunil Narine (47 in 22 balls, with two fours and five sixes) put KKR to a fine start with a quickfire 86-run stand in 39 balls. After Vyshak and Mayank Dagar (1/23 each) dismissed the openers, Venkatesh Iyer (50* in 30 balls, with three fours and four sixes) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (39 in 24 balls, with two fours and two sixes) guided KKR to a seven-wicket win with 19 balls to go.

Sunil won ‘Player of the Match’ on his 500th match for his knock of 47 and one wicket.

RCB is sixth in the points table with a win and two losses. They have just two points. KKR is at second with two wins in two games, and four points.