Okay, so here’s the lowdown. Virat Kohli was the big man with the bat on Sunday — April 13th or whatever. Royal Challengers Bengaluru, these folks went all out, just thrashed the Rajasthan Royals by nine wickets. Yeah, nine. Pretty big if you ask me. And oh, this was one of those “we gotta win this or else” games. They had just got clobbered by Delhi Capitals by six wickets. Ouch.
RCB’s starting the season kinda meh until this. But then — oh right — let’s talk about the game itself. They were up against the Rajasthan Royals, who ended with 173/4 in their 20 overs. Yashasvi Jaiswal was swinging for the fences (75 off 47! Not bad, right?). Parag and Jurel added their grains of rice (30 and 35* runs). And that was basically the whole meal.
Flipping to the second innings — and wham, RCB chased it down easy peasy. Lost just one wicket in less than 18 overs. Phil Salt and Virat had this 92-run dance for the opening partnership. Salt gets gone at 65 thanks to Kartikeya ruining their dance party. But no biggie because Kohli and Padikkal then do this unbeaten 83-run thing and boom, game over for RR. Kohli with 62 not out, and dude he did not break a sweat, I tell ya. Padikkal was like “hey, I’m here too!” at 40 not out.
The kicker? RCB has somehow managed to win their first 4 away games. First time EVER in IPL history. And yet they can’t seem to get it together at home. Weird flex, but okay.
And then just when you think it’s all serious cricket stuff, RCB’s Tim David turns up to steal the show — or at least a bat. Apparently, there was a bat-lifting incident? Tim decided to swipe Kohli’s bat from his bag. Just for kicks. Kohli was like, “I counted my bats, and one’s missing!” (He had seven, but now six). Checked David’s bag, brouhaha ensues, and yeah, they found it. David says he “just borrowed it.” Right, buddy. We’ve all heard that one before.
Anyway, if you’re feeling mischievous, RCB’s Twitter posted the whole prank. Dressing room antics? Check. Oh, and it was all good laughs, apparently. Got something to make those away victories a bit more memorable, I guess.
