On Friday, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli escaped a major injury scare during the opening game of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 against Mumbai Indians (MI) at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
It all happened in the penultimate over of MI’s innings bowled by New Zealand all-rounder Kyle Jamieson. The Kiwi bowled a good length delivery which was whacked hard by Krunal Pandya in order to earn a boundary. However, he mistimed his shot, and it went straight towards Kohli, who was positioned at mid-off.
But the Delhi-lad ended up dropping an absolute sitter to give Krunal a lifeline.
In the process, he also hurt himself as the white leather burst through his fingers and hit him right under the eye. Kohli immediately clutched his face as his eye got swelled up after few minutes, but he decided to remain on the field without receiving treatment.
Here is the video:
OUCH.
King Kohli cops it in the face! pic.twitter.com/qifA5Xn7Z2
— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) April 10, 2021
RCB eventually restricted Mumbai for a moderate total of 159/9 in their allotted 20 overs. Harshal Patel was the pick of the bowlers for the Bangalore-based franchise. The right-armer bagged a five-wicket haul while conceding only 27 runs in his quota of 4 overs.
Chris Lynn and Surya Kumar Yadav were the main highlights for the defending champions. While Lynn fell one short of his half-century, Surya added 31 runs.
In reply, the match went to the wire, and RCB managed to win the contest on the last ball by two wickets. AB de Villiers scored a sensational 48 from 27 balls, and Glenn Maxwell smashed 39 from 28 deliveries to guide their side to victory.
