Fans react after Kent Cricket takes a sly dig at Virat Kohli by comparing his runs with Joe Denly

England and West Indies scripted history as both the sides braced the field to kick-off international cricket amid coronavirus pandemic. The COVID-19 outbreak had wreaked havoc on the sporting scenario since the past few months, leaving the fans with no cricket action since March.

However, the wait of fans finally ended when the ECB was successful in making an international series possible. The ECB had to conduct several tests for the safety of England as well as West Indies players.

The Caribbean side was flown to the UK and the squad was tested for COVID-19 before they flagged off their training sessions. West Indies stayed in quarantine for three weeks, following which they entered the bio-bubble environment.

Both teams, on July 8, finally took a leap towards international cricket after England won the toss and chose to bat. However, the decision of stand-in skipper Ben Stokes didn’t prove fruitful as the Three Lions bowed down against Jason Holder and Shannon Gabriel. England only posted a modest total of 204 in the first innings, with skipper Ben Stokes (43) being the highest run-scorer.

Joe Denly scored 18 runs against West Indies

Top-order batsman Joe Denly also failed to dazzle with the bat as he scored only 18 runs before getting dismissed off Shannon Gabriel’s delivery. However, while Denly was batting, Kent Cricket shared a hilarious tweet comparing the England international’s runs with Virat Kohli.

Kent Cricket mentioned that its player Joe Denly has scored 14 runs while Kohli is yet to score a run since the lockdown began. While some fans took it as a joke, few were irked by the Kent Cricket’s dig.

Runs since lockdown began:

Joe Denly: 1️⃣4️⃣
Virat Kohli: 0️⃣

🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️ #SuperKent pic.twitter.com/kS8sHt06b0

— Kent Cricket (@KentCricket) July 8, 2020

Denly, who came to bat at No.3 against West Indies, could add only four runs after Kent Cricket’s tweet. He eventually returned to the pavilion after scoring 18. Denly will have to prove his mettle in the second innings or else he’ll lose his place to Joe Root, who has missed the first Test to be with his wife as they are expecting their second child.

Talking about Kohli, the Indian skipper was last seen in action during India’s tour of New Zealand. After clinching the T20I series, the Men in Blue suffered a drubbing defeat in the ODI and Test series.

India’s subsequent bilateral ODI series against South Africa was also called off in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak. Kohli, like other Indian players, will be next seen in IPL 2020 whenever the league takes place. The cash-rich league, which was slated to start from March 29, was postponed indefinitely amid the pandemic.

Here’s how the fans reacted:

Being bowled since lockdown – denly 1 kohli 0

— JJ Haigh (@jjhaigh) July 9, 2020

Wow man. Atleast @imVkohli is unbeaten and Denly is cleaned up already by Gabriel. 🤣🤣 #ShutUp Kent!! @MontyPanesar @vikrantgupta73 @cricketaakash

— Go Corona! (@imanonymous_i) July 9, 2020

This is the sort of tweet that causes a pandemic during a riot.

— Radio Cricket (@RadioCricket) July 9, 2020

I dunno. I reckon Vitat Kohli will have had the runs a few times since lockdown…

— Gareth Nokes (@nokesy) July 9, 2020

Desperation!

— Andy (@andrew_will) July 9, 2020

Can’t argue with facts

— Brad Walker (@BradWalker7) July 9, 2020

Stick a 0 on the end of that by the end of today’s play and we will be even happier 😁😁😁

— Chris Hobrough (@ChrisHobrough) July 9, 2020

Very good point. He’s outscored Kane Williamson, Joe Root and Steve Smith combined as well. What a man @joed1986

— Paul Fagan (@Paul_Fagan_1983) July 8, 2020

The stats don’t lie!

— The Googly (@officialgoogly) July 8, 2020

my goat.

— wilf (@WonjoMelvey) July 8, 2020

One of the Big Five

— Sam Wigginton (@theswiggs) July 8, 2020

…I find myself guffawing my head off to this tweet in the middle of a cafe much to the amusement of the clientele! Good work KCCC…

— Stuart Glover (@StuartG51108190) July 9, 2020