Raipur: Virat Kohli roared back to form with a record-extending ninth hundred in the Indian Premier League to take Royal Challengers Bengaluru back to the top spot in the points table, with a six-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders here on Wednesday, May 14.
Kohli (105 not out off 60 balls) pumped his fists after taking a single in the first over for his first run in three matches, and he did not take long to impose himself on the game to produce another masterclass in run chase.
This was Kohli’s ninth hundred overall in the IPL as he went past MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma for most matches (279) in the league. His unbeaten ton on Wednesday was also his first hundred since the 2023 edition. He also became the first Indian to score 14000 runs in T20 cricket.
Kohli hit 11 fours and three sixes from the 60 balls he faced, and was never unfazed in a tall run-chase as RCB replied with 194/4 in 19.1 overs to KKR’s 192/4.
Vaibhav Arora was all over the place in his first over as Kohli hit the first ball to midwicket off the pads, the fourth delivery past square leg off a flick, the fifth sprayed way outside off for the batter to free up his arms and the sixth angling down the wicket which was helped on its way.
Each of these deliveries were hit for boundaries and Kohli was off to a flier.
Jacob Bethell (15) too opened up, hitting Dubey for two fours and a six on the first three balls of the third over, helping RCB attain that 10-runs-per-over momentum which they did not let go.
However, soon after his start, Bethell was surprised by a snorter from Kartik Tyagi (3/32). The short ball came quickly to which the England batter responded with a pull, but got an edge which ricocheted off his helmet towards the bowler for an easy grab.
KKR would feel they were tad unlucky when Rovman Powell timed his jump perfectly at extra cover to catch a lofted drive from Kohli off Tyagi, but the ball burst through his hands, giving Kohli a lifeline which proved too costly.
The dismissal had no impact on RCB’s charge who had Devdutt Padikkal (39) forging a robust 92-run stand with Kohli for the second wicket.
Neither Kohli nor Padikkal showed any urgency yet remained in complete control of the chase, putting away the bad deliveries while farming the strike with utmost ease.
Another opportunity came KKR’s way — much easier than the one before — when Arora failed to take a regulation grab off Cameron Green, giving Padikkal a lifeline.
Padikkal’s pull shot did not have the elevation and Arora had covered the distance well in time to get in line of the ball, but it popped out of his hands.
The second-wicket stand finally ended when Tyagi produced a short delivery to Padikkal shortly after the second break and the batter mistimed it.
Ajinkya Rahane made no mistake in taking it reverse-cupped but the KKR skipper was all over the place when a leading edge came off Rajat Patidar’s (11) bat in the 16th over. Rahane even used his body to keep the ball off the ground as he fell and juggled the ball several times.
If the two wickets gave KKR hopes, Kohli demolished them with a six and a four off Anukul Roy in the 17th over and soon completed his hundred off 58th delivery he faced.
Earlier, Angkrish Raghuvanshi led the charge with his career-best 71 as Kolkata Knight Riders posted a commanding 192 for four.
The KKR wicketkeeper-batter struck three sixes and seven fours in a fluent knock off 46 balls while forging crucial partnerships along the way to give his side the necessary impetus.
KKR lost momentum as soon as they had found some. After a tight first over in which Rahane (19) found a boundary after five dot balls off Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Finn Allen (18) smacked 14 runs off Jacob Duffy in the second.
But RCB struck back hard with Bhuvneshwar getting Allen caught behind off a delivery that darted away from the batter, and Josh Hazlewood bounced out Rahane soon after the KKR skipper had hit a six and a four off Duffy to make it 17 runs off the fourth over.
With KKR crawling to 56 for two after the powerplay, Raghuvanshi put on vital 68 runs for the third wicket with Cameron Green (32) and another 76 runs for the fourth wicket with Rinku Singh (49 not out).
Raghuvanshi began with an imperious hit over wide long-on for a six and kept picking the odd boundaries during the two partnerships that he forged.
While he dealt in some deft cut shots on the off-side, the highlights were a short-arm jab on the midwicket for a four off Duffy and a superb six over the ropes off Krunal Pandya.
KKR’s cause was also served well by Green who struck 32 off 24 balls with three fours and a six, while Rinku was stranded one run short of his fifty as he made 49 not out off 29 balls with three fours and two sixes.
