Virat Kohli celebrates with Faf du Plessis.© BCCI/IPL
Virat Kohli was at his prime on Thursday night and the world rejoiced. To top it all, the batting great hit his sixth IPL century off just 62 balls in an IPL 2023 match against SunRisers Hyderabad to equal West Indies great Chris Gayle‘s feat of most number of tons in the premier T20 competition. Against SRH, Kohli was at his aggressive best right from the word go and the fans present at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, in Hyderabad, lapped up every moment of the feat. This was also the first time in IPL history that a century was scored in both the innings in a match. Earlier, Heinrich Klaasen hit a ton for SRH to help his team set a 187-run target for RCB.
After Klaasen’s ton, Kohli got into the job right from the first ball. Off Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s first delivery, Kohli came up with a classic shot that pierced between the cover and point to race to the boundary. If that was a hit trailer, the blockbuster was even more brilliant to watch. Kohli never stepped off the pedal, and with RCB captain Faf du Plessis by his side, Kohli shone bright as RCB cruised towards the target.
Needing a win to be in a comfortable position in the points table, RCB were eyeing a favourable result. Thanks to Kohli’s ton and Du Plessis’ 71, RCB won with four balls to spare to enter the top-4 in the points table. They now have 14 points from 13 games with a NRR of +0.180.
Even the great Sachin Tendulkar was mighty impressed. “It was evident that this would be Virat’s day from the very first ball when he played that cover drive. Virat and Faf both looked in total control, they not only played many big shots but also ran rather well between the wickets to build a successful partnership,” he wrote on Twitter. “186 wasn’t a big enough total for the way they both batted. #SRHvRCB #IPL2023”
Kohli hit at least one four in the first four overs. Thanks to Kohli and du Plessis’ aggressive play, RCB raced to 132/0 in just 14 overs. Then came the 15th over by Bhuvneshwar Kumar where Kohli displayed his array of shots with four consecutive boundaries, which had the RCB captain at the other end in awe too. Three went through the covers while one was a straighter drive that went past the long-on boundary.
Again facing Bhuvneshwar, Kohli slammed his first IPL century since the 2019 edition as he hit a massive six over deep mid-wicket on the fourth ball of the 18th over. Though he was dismissed on the very next delivery, Kohli’s majestic knock ensured that RCB did not have any hiccups on way to pocketing two crucial points.
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