IPL 2026: Kohli’s Unbeaten 105 Powers RCB To Top Spot With Six-Wicket Win Over KKR
Virat Kohli produced a vintage hundred and remained unbeaten on 105 off 60 balls as he steered Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a six-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders and reclaimed the top spot on the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 points table at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur on Wednesday.
After Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s fluent 71 and Rinku Singh’s unbeaten 49 powered Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to 192/4, Kohli delivered a masterclass in chasing with an unbeaten century laced with 11 fours and three sixes at a strike rate of 175—his ninth IPL ton and 10th overall in T20s—as RCB completed the chase with five balls to spare.
With the majority of his shots coming through the leg side, Kohli produced a chasing masterclass to leave the Raipur crowd delighted after rain delayed the start of the match by 75 minutes.
Chasing 193, RCB began cautiously as debutant Saurabh Dubey conceded just two runs in the opening over. The tempo changed in the second over when Vaibhav Arora erred in line, and Kohli capitalised with four boundaries, including a flick over square leg and a crisp cut shot. Jacob Bethell also attacked Dubey with a six and two fours before being dismissed by Kartik Tyagi via a caught-and-bowled effort.
Kohli, however, remained unfazed, pulling Tyagi for a six and surviving a reprieve when Powell dropped him at cover. Devdutt Padikkal joined in with boundaries off Tyagi and Narine, and the pair added fluency to the chase through a 92-run stand for the second wicket. Padikkal found gaps regularly, while Kohli reached his half-century in 32 balls.
Tyagi eventually broke the partnership by dismissing Padikkal for 39 with an off-cutter. Rajat Patidar struck a six but struggled to settle after being hit on the head and was soon dismissed by Narine, even as Kohli continued to find boundaries with authority.
With the equation under control, Kohli struck a towering six off Tyagi to move into the nineties before bringing up his ninth IPL hundred with a single off Arora in the 19th over, acknowledging the applause with a raised bat.
Though Tim David fell cheaply, Jitesh Sharma ensured there was no late drama. With three runs needed off the final over, he pulled Dubey’s short ball for four to seal the win in a chase marked by intent and control, never allowing the asking rate to climb. The victory lifted RCB back to the top of the points table while ending KKR’s four-match unbeaten run.
Brief scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 192/4 in 20 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 71, Rinku Singh 49 not out; Josh Hazlewood 1-35, Rasikh Salam 1-35) lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru 194/4 in 19.1 overs (Virat Kohli 105 not out, Devdutt Padikkal 39; Kartik Tyagi 3-32, Sunil Narine 1-31) by six wickets.
