The chase master, Virat Kohli has scored a sensational century at Raipur against the Kolkata Knight Riders. He scored it off 58 deliveries and this is his first century of the season and the ninth of his IPL career. This has been batting of the highest quality and he hasn’t put a foot wrong in this knock. The importance of this knock cannot be understated as the timing of this innings has come at the most important time for RCB. Seldom do we see Virat Kohli fail at run chases of this intensity and he has proved his worth yet again in this format of the game.

Virat Kohli’s previous century in the IPL came in a losing cause against the Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur in the 2024 edition. This time, he has made sure that his side got across the line and that his century doesn’t go in vain. RCB will be happy that Virat Kohli has returned to his best just ahead of the playoffs and the other teams will be worried. He will be hopeful of carrying his form forward in the coming games as RCB need him the most with the inconsistency in their middle order.

Virat’s masterclass century guides RCB to commanding victory against KKR

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru have exercised their control over the run chase right from the beginning as they have left no margin for error. Despite the early loss of Jacob Bethell, they haven’t let it affect their scoring rate as Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal were marching on. There wasn’t much that the bowlers could do with the kind of total their batters had posted and the power of the RCB batting unit is known to all. Rajat Patidar walked in to bat at number 4 and he was able to score a six off Sunil Narine, before hitting one straight into the hands of Ajinkya Rahane. There was a flurry of wickets at the end but it didn’t really matter as there wasn’t much on the scoreboard to put RCB under pressure.

RCB have once again retained their spot at the top of the table after falling to the second spot after Gujarat Titans’ win over Sunrisers Hyderabad yesterday. RCB are neck-to-neck with the Gujarat Titans but the defending champions have the edge with a very good Net Run Rate. With Virat Kohli at the crease till the end, RCB were assured that the victory was inevitable. Virat Kohli will hold the key for RCB’s success at the top of the order with an out-of-form Jacob Bethell. RCB will most definitely make the playoffs from here on in and Virat Kohli will be hoping to lead the charge for RCB’s title defence.