Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Rajat Patidar on Sunday said Virat Kohli is "used to doing great things" and his presence in the dressing room was invaluable after they won their second successive Indian Premier League title. The 37-year-old Kohli anchored Bengaluru's chase of 156 against Gujarat Titans in the final with an unbeaten 75 to steer the team home with two overs to spare in Ahmedabad. Bengaluru and Kohli, who finished the season with 675 runs including one ton and five half-centuries, have dominated the T20 tournament since they won their first IPL crown at the 18th attempt last year. "If I speak about Virat Kohli, I don't have words to explain him. He is used to doing great things," Patidar told reporters. "He is a great player, everyone knows him - the way he bats. We all have an opportunity to learn from him on and off the field. We spend lot of time with him and try to learn whatever he says, regarding cricket or anything else....
Abhishek Sharma's explosive second Indian Premier League (IPL) century, supported by a quick-fire cameo from Heinrich Klaasen, powered Sunrisers Hyderabad to a commanding 242/2 against Delhi Capitals on Tuesday in Hyderabad. Sharma remained unbeaten on 135, his second-highest score in the tournament, hammering 10 towering sixes and carrying his bat through a dominant innings. While Klaasen played a vital and fiery hand, smashing 37 off just 13 balls, including three sixes and four fours.
SRH owner Kavya Maran was ectatic after the ton by Abshiek as was the star opener's father Raj Kumar Sharma.
Incredible knock, iconic celebration
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An Abhishek Sharma special lights up Hyderabad
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After being put in to bat, Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head gave Sunrisers Hyderabad a flying start, scoring nine runs in the opening over.
Nitish Rana responded with a tight second over, conceding just six runs, but the momentum quickly shifted back as both openers struck a boundary each off Mukesh Kumar in the next over.
Lungi Ngidi came into the attack in the fourth over but was taken for 10 runs. The pressure mounted in the following over when Sharma and Head took charge against Rana, scoring 20 runs to bring up a brisk 50-run opening partnership.
Sharma capped off an impressive powerplay by smashing a six off the final ball, guiding SRH to a commanding 67 without loss at the end of the fielding restrictions.
DC skipper Axar Patel, featuring in his 100th match for the franchise, delivered a tight over immediately after the powerplay, conceding just seven runs. He was well supported by Kuldeep Yadav, who followed up with another disciplined over, giving away only eight runs.
In Patel's second over, Sharma and Head slammed him for a six each before the DC skipper got the better of Head for 37, bringing SRH skipper Ishan Kishan to the crease.
In the same over, Sharma brought up his fifty in 25 balls - the slowest fifty of his six IPL fifties in Hyderabad.
Sharma also completed 2,000 IPL runs for SRH, joining David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson in the elite list.
Sharma and Kishan launched an attack on Yadav as the duo slammed 22 runs in the 11th over. Continuing to take on the DC bowlers, Sharma brought up his second IPL hundred in the 15th over.
In the same over, SRH skipper Kishan was run out for 25; however, Sharma thumped Rana for 23 runs to take SRH's total to 183/2.
Sharma blazed his way to his second IPL century in 47 balls. It was the 25-year-old's ninth T20 century overall, equalling Virat Kohli's record for the most centuries by an Indian in men's T20 cricket.
This also marked the second instance of Abhishek Sharma smashing 10 sixes in an IPL innings, making him only the second batter to achieve the feat multiple times after Chris Gayle, who has done it four times.
Sunrisers Hyderabad surged past the 200-run mark by the end of the 17th over, with Sharma and Heinrich Klaasen at the crease.
Klaasen continued the onslaught, smashing two sixes off Lungi Ngidi in the 18th over to add another 14 runs to SRH's total.
Klaasen also became the third-fastest player to reach 100 IPL sixes in terms of innings (52), behind Gayle (37) and Andre Russell (47), and the seventh-fastest in terms of balls faced (1,072).
T. Natarajan bowled an outstanding 19th over, conceding just six runs. SRH finished their innings on 242/2, with Klaasen and Sharma collecting 20 runs in the final over.
from NDTV News- Special https://ift.tt/dF4rc7M
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