Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Virat Kohli came back to haunt the Kolkata Knight Riders again as he slammed his 9th Indian Premier League century at Raipur on Wednesday. This was Kohli’s first ton of the season as he got to his milestone in just 58 deliveries with the help of 10 fours and 3 sixes. He got to his half century in 32 balls and ultimately finished with 105* as he guided RCB to a big win which almost certainly solidified their status as one of the teams to reach the play-offs as they zoomed to the top of the table.
Kohli’s 9th 100 is now the highest by any player in the IPL with Jos Buttler second with 7 centuries. He is also joint-third in the list of players with the most T20 centuries with 10. Chris Gayle tops that list with 22 tons while Babar Azam is second with 13. Kohli also slammed 14,000 T20 runs in the same match, ruling the roost.
Earlier, Angkrish Raghuvanshi led the charge with his career-best 71 as Kolkata Knight Riders posted a commanding 192 for four against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their rain-delayed Indian Premier League clash here on Tuesday.
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, which their openers had failed to provide.
With a wet outfield delaying the contest by more than an hour, RCB opted to field in search of early assistance, but there was no particular help for the seamers as compared to the last game here when new ball had made its impact.
KKR lost momentum as soon as they had found some. After a tight first over in which Ajinkya 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 in the fourth over 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) to help put on a competitive total on the board.
The 21-year-old Raghuvanshi struck his fourth half-century of the season which has been his best so far in the IPL, thriving at the No.3 slot while also having a long stint behind the wickets.
He 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.
There was also one powerful hit off a slower delivery off Rasikh Salam over the umpire’s head. Raghuvanshi’s innings ended when he was run-out on the final ball of the innings.
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.
The India batter continued with his rich vein of form having struck two unbeaten fifties in last four matches.
