Virat Kohli has steered his team to the top of the table again with his ninth IPL hundred. Faced with a challenging 193 to win in Raipur, Kohli demonstrated once again why he’s a master chaser, scoring his ninth IPL hundred and finishing on 105no as Royal Challengers beat Kolkata Knight Riders by six wickets.
Kohli’s enduring class has helped him score another match-winning century, become the quickest batter to make 14,000 T20 runs, and transport his team to the top of the league. Having fist-pumped to celebrate getting off the mark, Kohli timed his run to a century perfectly, able to watch partner Jitesh Sharma clout a boundary off the first ball of the final over in Raipur to take his team to their target on 4-194.
Kohli’s Innings
Kohli helped himself to 14 off eight balls when facing Cameron Green, who only bowled two overs for his 22. In all, the 37-year-old Kohli hit 11 fours and three sixes in his latest 60-ball masterclass at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, going past 14,000 runs in T20s in his 409th innings and getting there quicker than anyone, including Chris Gayle (423).
The love for batting that hasn’t faded away after more than two decades is evident in Kohli’s game. He said, “There is a reason people say pressure is a privilege – it keeps you humble. Good pressure always helps you improve your game. A couple of games that do not go your way, you feel a bit of nervousness – and that helps your game go up.”
Other Performances
RCB didn’t even need a contribution from the in-form Tim David, who smashed a thunderous low shot behind point when on just two, barely able to believe how he’d been dismissed by an extraordinary diving catch from Manish Pandey, one of the best of the season.
Kohli’s teammate Josh Hazlewood also seems to share his champion’s mentality. The veteran Aussie quick took a bit of stick, going for 1-35 off his four, but he still grabbed the key wicket of KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane when he was going well on 19, caught and bowled.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi did most of the damage for the inserted KKR, scoring his third half-century of the season (71), and he got valuable help from an unbeaten 49 from Rinku Singh and a useful 24-ball 32 from Green, featuring a six and three fours as they got to 4-192.
But their hopes of qualifying for the playoffs have taken a big hit, as they’re now unlikely to make it as they stand four points off the top-four in eighth place.
