On April 02, 2011, the Indian cricket team ended its 28-year-long excruciating wait of lifting the ICC ODI World Cup trophy. Up against Sri Lanka in the final, the Indian team chased down the target of 275 runs, with the captain MS Dhoni remaining unbeaten on 91, to ‘finish things off in style’. Dhoni’s match-winning six is embedded in the memory of cricket lovers as one of the most beautiful moments from the tournament. On the 12th anniversary of the historic achievement, Virat Kohli did the same, although in the Indian Premier League for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Kohli’s franchise was up against Mumbai Indians in their IPL 2023 opener. While it was Bengaluru skipper Faf du Plessis who led the charge in the beginning, scoring a 43-ball 73 before being dismissed, Kohli finished off the chase, remaining unbeaten on 82 off 49 balls.
While the Royal Challengers remained in absolute control for the entire duration of the run-chase, Virat took the team over the line with a six that was almost the perfect replica of the shot Dhoni had hit to Nuwan Kulasekara on the match-winning ball in the 2011 World Cup final.
Here’s the video:
“𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏 𝑬𝑴𝑷𝑬𝑹𝑶𝑹” #KingKohli takes #RCB over the line with a sublime #TATAIPL #IPLonJioCinema | @RCBTweets @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/DUpY55ZfLM
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) April 2, 2023
Dhoni Finishes of in style to Kohli finishes of in style. It’s being 12 years. Thank you for this wonderful night King @imVkohli #RCBvsMI #ViratKohlipic.twitter.com/8vkFhPKeJi
— Mayur (@133_AT_Hobart) April 2, 2023
Speaking after the match, Kohli said that RCB needs to remain focussed in their pursuit of the title.
“Phenomenal win. Homecoming after so many years. Credit to their batters for getting to that score. Tilak (Varma) batted well. We kept backing ourselves. Faf went first, and I joined later. I am very happy with how things went today,” said Kohli after the match.
“Apart from Mumbai winning five times and Chennai four times, we have qualified the most number of times, so we do play consistent cricket. It’s just about staying focused, and just trying to be the best-balanced team. We need to play on this momentum. We just need to execute better.”
“The new ball was a bit tricky, but we shifted the momentum by taking them down with the new ball. We nullified all their intensity. The wicket was quite a nice one. We hit good areas and kept putting pressure on the bowlers,” Kohli added.
In the match, Kohli and du Plessis produced a spectacle of strokeplay, sharing a 148-run partnership after opening the chase, laying the foundation for a dominant victory.
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