IPL 2018: Crucial win over MI birthday gift to Anushka: Kohli

Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli celebrates a Mumbai Indians wicket with teammates during the IPL match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Tuesday

Bengaluru, May 2: Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli has dedicated his side's much-needed win over Mumbai Indians in their last Indian Premier League game to his actress wife Anushka Sharma, who celebrated her 30th birthday on Tuesday (May 1).

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RCB beat three-time champions and title holders Mumbai Indians by 14 runs here on Tuesday night (May 1) to keep itself afloat in the ongoing IPL by climbing up to fifth position in the eight-team competition. And Kohli said the win was a birthday gift for his wife Anushka, who was present in the stands to root for him and his team.

Can there be a better birthday gift for @AnushkaSharma than to see @RCBTweets led by @imVkohli win? Here's that moment. #RCBvMI #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/rN3S7BdEKL
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 1, 2018

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"We needed that win. It is a very important win at such an important stage of the tournament. Tonight was an occasion we needed those two points. This is the push we needed," Kohli said after the win.

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"We should take this confidence forward. My wife is here and it's her birthday. This was a little gift for her. It was very important to achieve these two points in front of her," he added.

Happy B'day my love. The most positive and honest person I know. Love you ♥️ pic.twitter.com/WTepj5e4pe
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) May 1, 2018

Meanwhile, RCB pacer Tim Southee praised Virat Kohli's captaincy and Mohammad Siraj's brilliance with the ball in the penultimate, which left Mumbai to score 23 runs of the last over.

"It got a little bit close towards the end. But I think Virat backed the guys to go out there and back their strongest skill set and we saw that with the way Siraj closed out his last over and made my job a little bit easier with a few more to defend," he said.