IPL 2021: Virat Kohli heaps praise on RCB teammates after 38-run win over KKR

Virat Kohli heaped praise on his Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) teammates after their convincing 38-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 on Sunday.

With their latest win at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, RCB remained the only unbeaten side in the ongoing 14th edition of the tournament. With nine points and an excellent net run-rate of +0.750, RCB reclaimed the top spot in the table, pushing Mumbai Indians (MI) to second place.

After winning the toss on Sunday, Kohli opted to bat against KKR and the decision turned out to be great for the Bangalore boys. Even though the top order failed to make any vital contributions, Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers stole the show with their respective half-centuries. The duo helped RCB post a huge total of 204 for 4 in 20 overs.

In reply to that, no KKR batsman stepped up. Andre Russell top-scored with 20-ball 31 and the next best batsman was their skipper Eoin Morgan with 29 off 23. RCB's 30-year-old Harshal Patel was once again the stand-out bowler as he finished with excellent figures of 2 for 17 in his quota of four overs. The other wicket-takers for RCB were Yuzvendra Chahal (2 for 34), Kyle Jamieson (3 for 41), and Washington Sundar (1 for 33).

Speaking at the post-match interview, Kohli hailed his bowlers, de Villiers, and Maxwell before adding that even though RCB have won three back-to-back games in the IPL 2021, they will not get "over-excited."

"Especially Siraj's over to Russell [was good] - he has had some history against Russell. He's a different bowler after the Australia tour and he shut the game out. Harshal has so much clarity in the end and I think Jamieson also bowled well. That's the reason why we have three out of three. To be fair, on a pitch like Chennai, you probably have a bit more space to make an error on the longer boundary. It has to be on the off side and not on side. Siraj did miss on the full-toss, but he has two men on the boundary. The execution was spot-on.

We played in Wankhede, Kolkata and Ahmedabad where the margin of error keeps getting smaller. Well, I said at the halfway mark we have 200 because of two genius innings back-to-back. Maxwell was outstanding and AB to follow. When he gets in with that kind of form and flow, it's impossible to stop him. We got 40 extra runs on that pitch which slowed down. Maxi has taken to this team like duck to water. AB loves the team and they were the difference today. There are areas we can work on. We're not getting ahead of ourselves and not getting over-excited," added Kohli in the interview.

At 9 for 2, Maxwell joined Devdutt Padikkal at the crease. The Australian all-rounder charged against KKR spinners Shakib Al Hasan and Varun Chakravarthy as he registered a sensational half-century, his eighth in the IPL.

The Maxwell show against KKR was eventually overshadowed by AB de Villiers, who also hammered nine fours and three sixes but took only 34 deliveries to score 76. KKR leaked 56 runs in the last three overs. Two of the three overs were bowled by Russell.

De Villiers managed 17 runs off the 18th over, which was bowled by Russell before both de Villiers and Kyle Jamieson went after Harbhajan Singh, scoring 18 runs off the penultimate over of RCB's innings. Russell gave away as many as 21 runs in the final over, which included a six, three fours and two runs, all coming off the South African's willow, apart from a wide bowled by Russell.

The former South African skipper was named the Player of the Match for his knock that he scored at an overwhelming strike-rate of 223.53.

"I did play well and had a lot of fun. Maxi made it easier and it's difficult coming into a game on a pitch that has been slower. It was a bit of both. It wasn't a 200-wicket; maybe 170 was about par today. The most important thing is I'm enjoying myself and my cricket - my family is here," de Villiers said at the press conference after RCB's win in Chennai.

RCB and KKR next head to Mumbai in the ongoing tournament. Kohli's side has a three-day break before their upcoming fixture that is against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Wankhede Stadium on April 22 (Thursday). Meanwhile, KKR take on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) two days later in Mumbai on Wednesday.