The excitement has only increased as the Champions League Twenty20 enters its penultimate stage. And Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Virat Kohli admitted that his team’s last-gasp win over the Redbacks was the most exciting T20 match he has ever played.
"Never been in such an exciting T20 match all my life," an ecstatic Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony after receiving his man-of-the-match award.
Asked to relive the moment when KB Arun Karthik hit that stunning six, he said, "I had my eyes closed on the last ball.
I was talking to our coach when two balls were left. Thought if we could get boundary and a two so that scores are tied."
Kohli said that the team management relied a lot on the start that Chris Gayle and Tillekaratne Dilshan provided.
"We thought if Chris and Dilshan could bat five or six overs, we had a fair chance."
About his own batting he said, "I was calm and relaxed, but of course you can't stay assured chasing a target such as 215."
Kohli's skipper Daniel Vettori was equally at loss of words after the match.
"Pretty amazing game of cricket. One thing about this ground is you can chase anything here. The last five overs that we bowled were really poor. Harris and Callum and Dan Christian batted extremely well."
Vettori said that dew did become a factor.
"The dew does change this wicket. The new ball turns a bit, but once it becomes soft, it's really difficult. However, the class of the batsmanship coupled with the wicket was amazing."
Stand-in captain for Redbacks skipper Callum Ferguson admitted that it was disappointing not to defend 214.
"Obviously, it's disappointing to not defend 214. Dan Harris and Dan Christian batted well, Tait came back with the ball and went bang bang bang, but Virat and Dilshan batted beautifully. We were backing our bowlers to execute despite the dew, disappointed not to do that," Ferguson conceded.
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