Heroics of Kohli, Lomror go in vain as Phil Salt’s brute assault powers DC’s stunning Kotla win

Virat Kohli became the only player in the history of the Indian Premier League to score more than 7,000 runs in the cash-rich tournament. His emotional ‘homecoming’ along with 6th half-century in IPL 2023 weren’t enough to save his team tonight. The match belonged to Delhi Capitals from the word go. Winning toss, RCB decided to bat first on the slow pitch of Kotla. Mahipal Lomror’s 54 off 29 and skipper Faf du Plessis 45 helped the Challengers to post a big total of 181 on the board.

While many thought that they pitch will slow down and will help the RCB bowlers but nothing could stop the sheer power of Pill Salt. The 100-run first wicket partnership with skipper David Warner showed that DC was on the right track. the DC batters hammered 70 runs during the powerplay. This was their best show during first phase in the history of IPL.

Josh Hazelwood broke that partnership as he sent Warner packing. But Salt was simply unstoppable. With critical cameos by Mitch Marsh and Rilee Rossouw, Salt went on to score 87 runs and keep DC completely in control of the game. RCB bowlers did get the wicket in death overs but it was too little and too late. This is the fourth win on the trot for DC and this also means that their hopes in IPL 2023 still remain very much alive.

Earlier, Kohli mania swept the Feroz Shah Kotla as Delhi fans, on another day, were seen wearing the RCB jersey of their favourite player.

The star batter ensured they did not return home disappointed with a 55 off 46 balls, his sixth half century of the season, before Lomror played some breathtaking shots on way to his highest score in the IPL. Kohli also became the first player to amass 7000 runs in the tournament history.

(With PTI inputs)