Virat Kohli's athleticism stood out again even as Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) dream run in the IPL 2024 came to a screeching halt in the Eliminator as they slumped to a four-wicket defeat against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Wednesday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. (Scorecard | As It Happened)
After RCB could get only 172 batting first, RR were closing in on the target when a moment of brilliance from Kohli threatened to derail the chase for the Sanju Samson-led side.
The Royals were just 60 runs away from victory with seven overs remaining and Dhruv Jurel batting alongside Riyan Parag.
Both were looking set to take RR close to victory but Kohli had other ideas.
Cameron Green was bowling the 14th over and Parag pulled the first ball firmly towards midwicket boundary where Kohli had to cut it off running from deep square leg.
In one swift motion, a running Kohli gathered the ball and speared it across right in the hands of the bowler who then broke the stumps. Kohli signalled out with his fingers from the deep and RCB players jumped into celebrations.
Replays showed Jurel was just milimeters short of making it into the crease.
While Kohli showed he is still among the fittest cricketers on the planet, the run out could not inspire RCB to another heist as their six-match winning streak finally came to an end in the Eliminator.
Earlier during RCB's batting Kohli had also become the first ever player in the history of IPL to get to the 8,000-run milestone.
After being invited to bat first, none of the RCB batters could make a big score against a solid RR bowling lineup. The Faf du Plessis-led side could only get to 172 which was overhauled by RR despite some hiccups.
RCB are now out of the tournament while RR go on to Chennai to meet Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 2. The winner between RR and SRH would then book a clash with Kolkata Knight Riders in the final of IPL 2024 on Sunday, May 26.
