Kolkata: Virat Kohli scored an effortless hundred with just three sixes to guide Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a six-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in a rain-delayed IPL game at Raipur on Wednesday.
A target of 193 was never really going to be enough but KKR probably lost the match when Kohli—he became the most capped IPL player with 279 games—and Devdutt Padikkal were allowed to add 92 runs for the second wicket after Padikkal was dropped early. The win restored RCB to the top of the table with 16 points, leaving KKR facing a tough scenario where they have to win their remaining three matches to stay in contention for the playoffs.
Kartik Tyagi gave some early hope by removing Jacob Bethel with a 144kph bouncer but Kohli and Padikkal joined hands at 37/1 to take them to 129 before Padikkal was dismissed. Padikkal could have been dismissed in the eighth over, but Vaibhav Arora spilled the catch at deep backward square leg after Cameron Green induced a pull shot with a slower short ball. Sunil Narine was as usual economical but the absence of Varun Chakravarthy due to a niggle, coupled with an off-day for Anukul Roy meant RCB couldn’t be stopped in their tracks.
Key to this was Kohli playing his brand of percentage but effective cricket, running hard, threading the gaps and hitting as straight as possible to fetch fours on a considerably larger ground than M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Reaching fifty off 32 balls, Kohli rode the initial momentum of having hit Arora for four boundaries in the second over to give RCB a rollicking start. From there, Kohli kept accumulating quietly, sometimes breaking the lull with boundaries to keep RCB in the hunt. As long as Padikkal was at the crease, Kohli was happy playing second fiddle. Once Rajat Patidar came though, Kohli took charge of the chase. And he rarely gets a chase wrong.
The equation read 47 runs from 28 balls when Kohli pulled Sunil Narine between long-on and deep midwicket for a boundary. In the next over from Anukul Roy, Kohli cleared his front leg and pulled him over midwicket for a four before going Test mode by chipping Roy down the ground for six. Next over, Kohli brought out an impossibly slick whip off the pads, sending Tyagi over deep midwicket for an 88m six. His hundred came with a single off Arora, driving him along the ground to long-off.
KKR’s innings hadn’t begun smoothly. Finn Allen and Ajinkya Rahane both got starts but fell inside the powerplay, leaving KKR exposed earlier than expected. This is where Angkrish Raghuvanshi took charge with an innings that felt increasingly mature with every passing over. Raghuvanshi’s 71 off 46 balls and Rinku Singh’s unbeaten 49 weren’t isolated contributions stitched together late in the innings.
Together, they represented a template KKR have desperately wanted all season—Indian batters taking ownership of the innings, controlling tempo and finishing strongly under pressure. Raghuvanshi found boundaries regularly enough to prevent pressure building, but he also understood when to rotate strike and when to absorb dots.
What made the innings significant for KKR, though, was how Raghuvanshi managed partnerships. He first stabilised things alongside Cameron Green, allowing the Australian to settle despite never looking entirely fluent during his 32. Then came the defining stand: 76 runs in 46 balls with Rinku for the fourth wicket. This is now becoming a sustained run of form rather than a one-off cameo from Rinku, his last four scores reading 53*, 83*, 22* and now 49*.
Brief scores: KKR 192/4 (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 71, Rinku Singh 49*). RCB 194/4 in 19/1 overs (V Kohli 105*, D Padikkal 39). RCB won by 6 wickets