[Watch] 'Frustrated' Virat Kohli gestures towards the heavens as his misfortune with the bat continues vs PBKS
Former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli's misfortune with the bat continued against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Brabourne Stadium on Friday.
Chasing 210 runs, Kohli got the Bangalore franchise off to a flying start. The talismanic run-scorer smacked a couple of boundaries and a six to get the run chase going.
Just when it looked like Virat Kohli had finally got his rhythm back, the 33-year-old was dismissed, unfortunately. Facing a Kagiso Rabada delivery, Kohli backed away from the stumps and was cramped for room. The former India captain then tried to play a one-legged pull.
However, the ball kissed his gloves, hit his thigh pad and was lobbed to Rahul Chahar, positioned at short-fine leg. Kohli couldn't believe his eyes as the replays showed that the ball had touched his gloves.
He looked up at the heavens on his way back as though gesturing 'where's my luck.' The RCB star also hit the ground with his bat in frustration.
Watch Kohli's dismissal here:
Virat Kohli's dismissal led to a couple more wickets falling. Faf du Plessis and Mahipal Lomror walked back cheaply as RCB were reeling at 40/3 in 4.5 overs before Glenn Maxwell and Rajat Patidar took the attack to the opposition.
They added 64 runs for the fourth wicket before departing in quick succession. The onus once again lies on Dinesh Karthik and Shahbaz Ahmed, RCB's crisis men this season.
PBKS post 209 runs after being invited to bat first
Livingstone in last 10 innings in IPL 2022:
60(32)
64(27)
2(3)
60(33)
2(3)
19(7)
18(16)
30*(10)
22(14)
70(42)
5 fifties from 10 innings for Livi. https://t.co/FPPuUtxZgG
Asked to bat first, Jonny Bairstow began to counterattack in the second over, hitting Josh Hazlewood for 22 runs. The onslaught continued as PBKS posted the highest powerplay score this season, hitting 83 runs.
The introduction of spinners in Wanindu Hasaranga and Shahbaz Ahmed pulled things back for RCB. However, Liam Livingstone would go to unleash carnage, which is becoming a regular occurrence this season. He picked and chose what to hit and waited to target specific bowlers and balls.
The Englishmen played out Hasaranga, who finished with figures of 2/15. Hazelwood and Mohammed Siraj had spells to forget, going for 100 runs combined in six overs. Riding on Livingstone's 70, PBKS posted 209 runs in their 20 overs.