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The Thursday night fixture between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) saw complete domination by the Virat Kohli-led side as they ended up chasing a massive target of 178 runs without losing a wicket.
Young Devdutt Padikkal and Kohli took RR bowlers to the cleaners and scored runs all around the ground. Padikkal, in fact, had a memorable outing as he smashed his maiden century in the cash-rich league and guided his side to their fourth consecutive victory in the ongoing IPL season.
Padikkal smashed an unbeaten 101 from 52 balls, including 11 fours and 6 sixes, at a breathtaking strike rate of 194.23. Along with the left-handed batsman, Kohli scored an unbeaten 72 off 47 deliveries packed with six fours and three maximums.
During the RCB’s chase, Padikkal and Royals’ star Jos Buttler were involved in a ‘Spirit of Cricket’ moment. In a viral going video shared by the official Twitter handle of IPL, Buttler can be seen tying the shoelaces of Padikkal.
Here is the clip:
Jos Buttler 🤝 Devdutt Padikkal#VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/5dDsXeJPiM
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 22, 2021
It was outstanding: Kohli on Padikkal’s knock
After the match, the RCB skipper was in all praise of Padikka for playing a scintillating knock. Kohli termed it as an outstanding innings and said Devdutt has also put an end to the discussion regarding him not accelerating after reaching his 30s.
“It was an outstanding innings. He (Devdutt) batted really well for his first season last time. There was a lot of talk about him not accelerating after getting to 30s. He’s put all that to rest. It was a good pitch to bat on, to be honest, and him being tall meant that bowlers struggled with their lengths,” said Kohli at the post-match presentation.
Padikkal also reacted on his hundred and said he was not worried about scoring a triple-figure mark. He stated that the team winning the contest is more important to him than the personal milestones.
“For me, it’s not about getting to a hundred; I wouldn’t mind missing out on hundreds as long as I contribute to the team’s wins,” said Padikkal while receiving the ‘Player of the Match’ award.
