In a thrilling encounter at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by six wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season. The star of the match was Virat Kohli, who played a magnificent unbeaten knock of 105 runs off 63 balls, guiding his team to chase down the target of 184 with ease.
KKR's Innings
Batting first, KKR posted a competitive total of 183 for 5 in their allotted 20 overs. Opener Shubman Gill set the tone with a brisk 48 off 32 balls, while captain Shreyas Iyer contributed a solid 42. In the death overs, Andre Russell's quickfire 35 not out off 18 balls propelled the score past 180. For RCB, Josh Hazlewood was the pick of the bowlers, taking 2 wickets for 32 runs.
RCB's Chase
In response, RCB got off to a steady start with Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli adding 68 runs for the first wicket. After du Plessis fell for 38, Kohli anchored the innings, finding able support from Glenn Maxwell (27) and Mahipal Lomror (18). The required run rate climbed, but Kohli accelerated brilliantly, reaching his century off the final ball of the 19th over with a six. He finished the match in style, hitting the winning runs with a boundary in the 20th over.
Key Moments
- Kohli's 13th IPL century, his first in the tournament since 2019.
- A crucial partnership of 58 runs between Kohli and Maxwell for the second wicket.
- Hazlewood's early breakthroughs that kept KKR in check.
The win propelled RCB to the top of the points table, while KKR slipped to fifth place. Kohli was adjudged Player of the Match for his match-winning innings.
