Virat Kohli (L) and Anushka Sharma during IPL 2023© Twitter
It was a happy outing for Royal Challengers Bangalore as they defeated Rajasthan Royals by 7 runs in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 encounter on Sunday. The match went down to the wire but good fielding performances and disciplined bowling from Harshal Patel was enough to clinch the match. Virat Kohli was not able to contribute with his bat but his romantic gesture for wife Anushka Sharma won several hearts during the match. In the 14thth over the innings Yashasvi Jaiswal Harshal slammed straight down the ground but it ended up being an easy catch for Kohli.
— The Game Changer (@TheGame_26) April 23, 2023
The star batter completed the catch and instantly turned back to blow a flying kiss towards Anushka in the stands. Anushka was thrilled by the gesture and her reactions were also captured on camera.
A late charge led by a cameo from Dhruv Jurel was not enough for Rajasthan Royals as a century stand between captain Faf Du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell set up a thrilling seven-run win for Royal Challengers Bangalore in their Indian Premier League match here on Sunday.
Invited to bat, Maxwell (77 off 44 balls) and du Plessis (62 off 39 balls) shared 127 runs for the third wicket from only 66 deliveries to power RCB to 189 for 9 in 20 overs.
Devdutt Padikkal (52 off 34 balls) struck his maiden fifty of the season and Yashasvi Jaiswal made 47 for a 98-run partnership for the second wicket but the Royals were lagging behind in the run chase before gaining momentum in the last five overs.
Jurel played a small cameo of 34 not out off just 16 balls (2×4; 2×6) as the Royals scored 61 runs off the last five overs, losing three wickets in the process. But they fell short by seven runs in the end, reaching 182 for 6 in 20 overs.
The Royals needed 20 runs off the final over bowled by Harshal Patel but could score only 12.
The Royals thus suffered their third defeat in seven matches but remained at the top of the points table due to a superior net run rate (0.844).
Harshal Patel (4-0-32-3) was the pick of the RCB bowlers while David Willey (4-0-26-1) and Mohd Siraj (4-0-39-1) also played their parts.
(With PTI inputs)
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