Raipur, May 14 (IANS) Virat Kohli produced a vintage hundred and was unbeaten on 105 off 60 balls as he steered Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to a six‑wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) 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 to 192/4, Kohli brought out a glorious, 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 dished out a chasing masterclass to leave the Raipur crowd utterly delighted after rain delayed the start of the game 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 cashed in by hitting four boundaries, including a flick over square leg and a rasping cut. Jacob Bethell, too, opened up against Dubey with a six and two fours before being taken out by Kartik Tyagi via a caught-and-bowled dismissal.

Kohli, however, continued to be unfazed, pulling Tyagi for six and riding his luck 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. The partnership blossomed as Padikkal found gaps regularly and Kohli reached his fifty in 32 balls.

But Tyagi broke the stand by dismissing Padikkal for 39 with an off-cutter. Rajat Patidar struck a six but was never in his elements after being hit on the head and soon fell to Narine, even as Kohli kept finding boundaries with authority.

The equation was well under control, and Kohli’s wrists produced a stunning towering six off Tyagi to bring him into the nineties. He raised his ninth IPL hundred with a single off Arora in the 19th over, acknowledging the applause with a simple raise of the bat.

Though Tim David fell cheaply, Jitesh Sharma ensured there was no late drama. With three 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, and never allowing the asking rate to climb. The victory lifted them back to the top of the points table, while ending KKR’s four‑match unbeaten run.

Previously, on a pitch where the odd ball kept low, KKR’s innings was anchored by Raghuvanshi, who hit seven fours and three sixes in his 46-ball knock coming at a strike-rate of 154.35. He stitched partnerships of 68 and 76 not out with Cameron Green (32) and Rinku, who hit three fours and two sixes in his unconquered 29-ball vigil.

Raghuvanshi kept finding boundaries at regular intervals and ensured the scoreboard was ticking. Though Green was not at his fluent best, Rinku’s finishing flourish lifted KKR past 190. RCB, meanwhile, were sloppy in the field with several misfields, and their bowling lacked bite. Though Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, and Rasikh Salam Dar picked a wicket each, none could stem the flow of runs consistently.

Sent in to bat first, KKR lost Finn Allen early after Bhuvneshwar found his outside edge and was snapped by Jitesh Sharma in the third over. Ajinkya Rahane looked promising by hitting three boundaries and a six, but gave a top edge to Hazlewood off his own bowling for 19.

Raghuvanshi then took charge, striking cleanly through the off‑side and over mid‑wicket. He found an able partner in Green, who contributed 32 with three fours and a six before being castled by a skiddy delivery from Rasikh in the 13th over.

Raghuvanshi reached his fourth fifty of the season in the 14th over in 32 balls, becoming the youngest KKR batter to record four 50‑plus scores in a single IPL edition. He continued to anchor the innings, mixing placement with power, even as Rinku, who was watchful initially, accelerated in the final overs.

His electric running between the wickets with Raghuvanshi ensured KKR rotated the strike well. By the time the innings came to a close, where all KKR batters contributed, Raghuvanshi was run out attempting a second run off the last ball, finishing on 71, while Rinku remained unbeaten. But all of that fell flat in the face of a brilliant run-chase led by Kohli.

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

–IANS

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