NEW DELHI: Veteran
Dinesh Karthik
turned out to be the lone warrior in
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
‘s middle-order, smashing a whirlwind 35-ball 83 in his side’s improbable chase of 288 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL on Monday.
Aged 38,
Karthik
produced an absolute gem of a knock and almost gave RCB a sniff of a win before his side finished at 262 for 7 in the record chase.
Smashing 5 fours and 7 sixes during his breathtaking knock that came at a strike rate of over 237, Karthik’s effort was a special one that lifted the down and out RCB fans after a horrendous show by the bowlers.
And the veteran deservedly got a standing ovation on his way back to the pavilion after a dazzling knock.
Missing out on a ton, Karthik was the last wicket to fall in RCB’s big chase in the 19th over as he was caught behind by Heinrich Klaasen off the bowling of T Natarajan.
RCB lost the high-scroing thriller by 25 runs, succumbing to their fifth straight defeat of the season.