Dharamshala, May 10: Virat Kohli starred as Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Punjab Kings by 60 runs at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Thursday. Virat Kohli anchored the innings as RCB posted a huge total of 241 for 7 in 20 overs. Kohli, who scored 92 runs off 47 balls in the game, crossed the mark of 1000 IPL runs against PBKS and thus became the first-ever batter in the history of the tournament to do it against three opponents. He already did it against DC and CSK. Rajat Patidar (55 off 23) and Cameron Green (46 off 27) also played crucial knocks after Punjab Kings’ stand-in captain Sam Curran won the toss and opted to bowl first. Chasing the mammoth target, PBKS were bowled out for 181 in 17 overs

Virat Kohli, Player of the Match said, For me it’s still quality over quantity. For me it works really well. Also the understanding of the game allows you to practice less, just try to replicate what I have done in the past. Still aiming to improve aspects of the game that you want to get batter at. It’s an evolving process. I brought out the slogsweep against the spinners. I didn’t practice it, I know I have hit it the past. Always looking to expose that side of the field against spin. I know I need to take risks, it needs a bit of conviction. I have been managing to stay ahead of that thought. I am trying to keep up with the strike rate for me and the team. The only way to go through a tournament is to be honest with ourselves. We had those losses on the trot, we just had a honest conversation. We needed to pull up our socks. That game against KKR went down to the wire. We wanted to play for our self respect. We just can’t go out there and play in such a way and disappoint our fans. The confidence is back and we are on a roll. We wouldn’t have to depend on several other aspects (had we played better earlier in the tournament.)

du Plessis | RCB skipper, said That was a good game. We have scored 200-plus in the last 5-6 games. We have had good conversations, we were making the same mistakes over and over again. Needed aggression with the bat. We just spoke about taking wickets. We have 6-7 options in the bowling department. You need some form in your side. With a bit of luck is also required. We had a few guys looking for wickets and runs at the start of the tournament. The boys have shown character to turn it around. Everyone has chipped in with runs and the bowlers are taking wickets. For us it’s important to focus on ourselves.We want to stick to the style of play that we want to do, if we do that it’ll prove we are a really good team.