‘He shouldn’t have bowled that over’: Former CSK player recalls smashing Virat Kohli for 28 runs

South Africa allrounder and former Chennai Super Kings batsman Albie Morkel on Thursday recalled the moment from Indian Premier League 2012 when he smashed Virat Kohli for 28 runs in an over to win a nail-biting thriller against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chepauk Stadium. Being asked to chase down 206 in 20 overs, CSK found themselves in a spot of bother after going 5 wickets down in the 18th over, with still 43 runs to chase.

At that time, Morkel came out to bat, and the, then, RCB captain Daniel Vettori gave the ball to Kohli to bowl the penultimate over. Morkel smashed Kohli all around the park to register 28 runs in the 19th over, leaving 15 runs for Dwayne Bravo to score in the final over. Bravo struck a couple of boundaries off Vinay Kumar to win the match for CSK.

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Speaking to sports presenter Rupha Ramani in a YouTube chat for Chennai Super Kings, Morkel recalled the over against Kohli. “Look, that’s one of those evenings... once again we were out of the game. RCB had the game in their bag... I had no idea why they bowled Virat. All respect to him, he shouldn’t have bowled that over anyway. We lost a wicket in the last ball of the 18th over,” he said. 

“The 19th and 20 were left. We needed 42 (43) off 2. I walked in at No. 7. You look at the scoreboard and you’re like ‘oh no, 40-odd off 2, that’s impossible’.

“You walk in and then you see Virat’s bowling then I thought ‘if I can connect a few, maybe we can get close’,” Morkel added.

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“I think I edged the 1st one for 4 that just missed my stumps. I edge another one just went over the short third man. I started hitting it straight and we eventually got 28 and ended up winning the match with Bravo hitting a couple in the next over. 

“We somehow find ways to beat them like that. We will be out of the game completely and come from nowhere to beat them. It’s a very special game to be part of,” he further said.

“That moment lasted about 15 minutes in my career. It is magical to look back at. I remember the vibe at the ground,” he signed off.