The chequered flag is visible, the rush to the playoffs is getting closer to the last lap, and the situation is captivating to watch.
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| It was Virat Kohli's ninth IPL century |
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the reigning champions, have set the standard throughout the league season, but they still have some work to do before they can relax. They need two more victories to feel secure with three games remaining. They might still lose out mathematically even in that case.
The 2024 champions, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), started the season slowly. However, they have found a second wind in the second half of the league stage, and with four straight victories, they are in a position to enter the playoffs by a back door. With four games left and eight points still up for grabs, they still have control over their destiny thanks to the one washout point they won against Punjab Kings.
Raipur's pitch is covered, and there has been some rain
We are accompanied by Shashank Kishore from Raipur, who informs us that there is some rain in the city. Additionally, the pitch is discussed.
The good news is that the coverings are coming off!
The covers are coming off because the rain ceased a while ago.
Let's examine today's game in more detail: It's easy to label the hosts, RCB, the favourites in Raipur based just on the points table, but Virat Kohli hasn't scored in consecutive innings. Phil Salt is still unavailable, and Romario Shepherd hasn't returned to his 2025 form either. They needed some courageous batting from Krunal Pandya to overcome the Mumbai Indians after suffering two straight losses.
However, KKR enters the match having won two convincing games away from home, by eight and seven wickets, respectively. Since their winning run started, their batting lineup has averaged just 4.5 dismissals per innings, Sunil Narine has gone at just 6.51 an over, Finn Allen has finally started to fire, Rinku Singh appears to be in excellent form, and Cameron Green is moving up.
Varun Chakravarthy, who has taken ten wickets in his past five games but injured his foot in Delhi and was seen walking with a stick at the team hotel, is currently their major concern.
The teams are meeting for the first time in IPL 2026.
In the spotlight: Narine and Kohli
Virat Kohli was wearing the Orange Cap not so long ago, but he has fallen to No. 13 on the runs leaderboard after two consecutive ducks, the second in his IPL career and the first since 2022. With losses in two of the previous three games, RCB's top and middle order are also in a precarious position, which coincides with his decline. His last three dismissals came from a length ball that was mistimed to mid-off off Deepak Chahar, a short ball to Rabada, and a Test-match-style delivery to Prince Yadav. It's interesting to note that Kohli scored more runs with Bethell (strike-rate 169) than with Salt (strike-rate 140), demonstrating greater attacking intent with his new opening partner.
This season, Sunil Narine has had some incredible four-over performances: 1 for 17 against DC, 1 for 23 against LSG (excluding the super over), and 1 for 21 against CSK. Although he doesn't take as many wickets as his fellow spin players in the competition, his economy of 6.51 puts him under constant strain, which other players have started to take advantage of. His matchup with Rajat Patidar is anticipated to be exciting, and KKR will be watching him as there might not be a Varun in the XII.
Report on the weather
While in Raipur, our man Shashank Kishore gets some bad news. The stadium's covers are on and have a lot of water on them due to the intense rain. It appears like there will be a considerable wait.
Toss postponed
Examination at 8:15
The Super Soppers are working hard now that the rain has ceased. We have a game coming up, so maybe there won't be any more rain. We haven't yet hit the deadline for losing overs, in my opinion.
Good news
Alright, okay. The match will begin at 8:45 p.m. after a toss at 8:30 p.m. It will also be a complete 20-overs-a-side match.
A fresh KKR cap
Has been given to Vidarbha's Saurabh Dubey, a left-arm seamer who joined the KKR team to replace Akash Deep. Despite being 28 years old, he lacks experience. Only eight List A games and three Twenty20 matches have been played thus far.
Shepherd is replaced by Venkatesh in the RCB bowl
When facing the Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bengaluru decided to bowl.
The skipper of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Rajat Patidar, has decided to bowl in his team's second game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Raipur. The match began an hour and fifteen minutes later than planned due to rain, although no overs were lost.
In their previous game at this location on Sunday, RCB won a thrilling match against the Mumbai Indians after Patidar advised at the toss that bowling first was the right choice.
The surface for that game was distinguished by seam movement and up-and-down bounce; although this game will be played on a different strip, Patidar thought it might behave similarly.
This might have had an impact on their choice; they replaced legspinner Suyash Sharma with Jacob Duffy to strengthen their seam assault. Romario Shepherd, an overseas all-rounder, was forced to sit out as a result, and Venkatesh Iyer took his place. On the Impact Player bench, Devdutt Padikkal begins the match.
For a spinner, KKR also brought in a seamer. Saurabh Dubey, a Vidarbha left-arm seamer who joined their team to replace the injured Akash Deep, was given a cap. Varun Chakravarthy, who injured his foot during KKR's match against Delhi Capitals, was replaced by Dubey. Dubey is benched at the beginning of the game.
If RCB wins tonight's match, they will move up to the top of the standings and surpass Gujarat Titans in net run rate. If KKR prevails, they would drop from ninth to seventh place and get within two points of fourth-place Punjab Kings.
Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Finn Allen, 2 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 3 Angkrish Raghuvanshi, 4 Cameron Green, 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Manish Pandey, 7 Rovman Powell, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Anukul Roy, 10 Kartik Tyagi, 11 Vaibhav Arora.
Impact bench: Saurabh Dubey, Ramandeep Singh, Tejasvi Singh, Navdeep Saini, Tim Seifert.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 1 Jacob Bethell, 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Rajat Patidar (capt), 4 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 5 Krunal Pandya, 6 Tim David, 7 Venkatesh Iyer, 8 Rasikh Salam, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Jacob Duffy.
Impact bench: Devdutt Padikkal, Jordan Cox, Mangesh Yadav, Swapnil Singh, Romario Shepherd.
Finn starts moving
0 0 4 6 4 0
Finn Allen is seeing the ball wonderfully, maintaining his shape, and hitting it where he wants, but the conditions for seamers are a little bit off. The off side of him is particularly attractive. He remained motionless and released his arms at the appropriate time. In the second over, Jacob Duffy is dismissed for 14, leaving RCB at 18 for no loss.
Allen's party is ended by Bhuvi
Allen had just sent Bhuvneshwar Kumar wide of mid-off for another commanding four, and he was looking quite menacing. However, Bhuvi simply keeps doing what he does best and believes that approach will be successful. Indeed, it does. Allen is trapped in the crease, tries to push it away via the off side with his weight moving away from the ball, and nicks off for eighteen off eight balls with perfect length, angling into the corridor and straightening. What an important wicket. At number three is Angkrish Raghuvanshi.
Duffy is defeated by KKR
6 0 1 0 4 6
After RCB gave him the new ball ahead of Josh Hazlewood, the large New Zealander isn't doing well thus far. Despite Allen's absence, Raghuvanshi and Rahane continue to correct the minor mistakes. Duffy has gone for 31 in two overs, while KKR is 43 for 1 in four overs.
Hazlewood enters the game and strikes
Josh Hazlewood excels at this more than almost everyone else. steep bounce from a length's back. Rahane tries to pull, but he is only able to sky it for a steepling return catch when the ball grows huge on him. That dismissal might have reminded some people of the 2003 World Cup final between McGrath and Tendulkar. I apologise if I'm causing any of you to relive a painful experience. In any case, Josh Hazlewood is to blame, not me. In 4.4 overs, KKR is 48 for 2.
KKR decelerates
Good news
Alright, okay. The match will begin at 8:45 p.m. after a toss at 8:30 p.m. It will also be a complete 20-overs-a-side match.
A fresh KKR cap
Has been given to Vidarbha's Saurabh Dubey, a left-arm seamer who joined the KKR team to replace Akash Deep. Despite being 28 years old, he lacks experience. Only eight List A games and three Twenty20 matches have been played thus far.
Shepherd is replaced by Venkatesh in the RCB bowl
When facing the Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bengaluru decided to bowl.
The skipper of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Rajat Patidar, has decided to bowl in his team's second game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Raipur. The match began an hour and fifteen minutes later than planned due to rain, although no overs were lost.
In their previous game at this location on Sunday, RCB won a thrilling match against the Mumbai Indians after Patidar advised at the toss that bowling first was the right choice.
The surface for that game was distinguished by seam movement and up-and-down bounce; although this game will be played on a different strip, Patidar thought it might behave similarly.
This might have had an impact on their choice; they replaced legspinner Suyash Sharma with Jacob Duffy to strengthen their seam assault. Romario Shepherd, an overseas all-rounder, was forced to sit out as a result, and Venkatesh Iyer took his place. On the Impact Player bench, Devdutt Padikkal begins the match.
For a spinner, KKR also brought in a seamer. Saurabh Dubey, a Vidarbha left-arm seamer who joined their team to replace the injured Akash Deep, was given a cap. Varun Chakravarthy, who injured his foot during KKR's match against Delhi Capitals, was replaced by Dubey. Dubey is benched at the beginning of the game.
If RCB wins tonight's match, they will move up to the top of the standings and surpass Gujarat Titans in net run rate. If KKR prevails, they would drop from ninth to seventh place and get within two points of fourth-place Punjab Kings.
Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Finn Allen, 2 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 3 Angkrish Raghuvanshi, 4 Cameron Green, 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Manish Pandey, 7 Rovman Powell, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Anukul Roy, 10 Kartik Tyagi, 11 Vaibhav Arora.
Impact bench: Saurabh Dubey, Ramandeep Singh, Tejasvi Singh, Navdeep Saini, Tim Seifert.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 1 Jacob Bethell, 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Rajat Patidar (capt), 4 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 5 Krunal Pandya, 6 Tim David, 7 Venkatesh Iyer, 8 Rasikh Salam, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Jacob Duffy.
Impact bench: Devdutt Padikkal, Jordan Cox, Mangesh Yadav, Swapnil Singh, Romario Shepherd.
Finn starts moving
0 0 4 6 4 0
Finn Allen is seeing the ball wonderfully, maintaining his shape, and hitting it where he wants, but the conditions for seamers are a little bit off. The off side of him is particularly attractive. He remained motionless and released his arms at the appropriate time. In the second over, Jacob Duffy is dismissed for 14, leaving RCB at 18 for no loss.
Allen's party is ended by Bhuvi
Allen had just sent Bhuvneshwar Kumar wide of mid-off for another commanding four, and he was looking quite menacing. However, Bhuvi simply keeps doing what he does best and believes that approach will be successful. Indeed, it does. Allen is trapped in the crease, tries to push it away via the off side with his weight moving away from the ball, and nicks off for eighteen off eight balls with perfect length, angling into the corridor and straightening. What an important wicket. At number three is Angkrish Raghuvanshi.
Duffy is defeated by KKR
6 0 1 0 4 6
After RCB gave him the new ball ahead of Josh Hazlewood, the large New Zealander isn't doing well thus far. Despite Allen's absence, Raghuvanshi and Rahane continue to correct the minor mistakes. Duffy has gone for 31 in two overs, while KKR is 43 for 1 in four overs.
Hazlewood enters the game and strikes
Josh Hazlewood excels at this more than almost everyone else. steep bounce from a length's back. Rahane tries to pull, but he is only able to sky it for a steepling return catch when the ball grows huge on him. That dismissal might have reminded some people of the 2003 World Cup final between McGrath and Tendulkar. I apologise if I'm causing any of you to relive a painful experience. In any case, Josh Hazlewood is to blame, not me. In 4.4 overs, KKR is 48 for 2.
KKR decelerates
Despite having slow beginnings, Raghuvanshi and Cameron Green have both scored 28 runs in 26 balls. In nine overs, KKR is 76 for 2.
KKR versus Krunal
From Raghuvanshi and Green, this is excellent. It has been difficult to get the quick bowlers off this wicket since it is a little two-paced. In order to prevent Krunal Pandya from settling into a length, KKR has attempted to put him under strain. In the tenth over, Raghuvanshi slog-swept him off a good-length ball. Green has since recovered to shovel-pull two slightly short deliveries, one for a six and another for a four due to a boundary fumble.
KKR is 111 for 2 after Krunal was dismissed for 29 in three overs.
Salam, Skiddy
In the last RCB match against MI in Raipur, Rasikh Salam scored Naman Dhir with a ball that skidded through a little low. Although this one didn't stay low, he now receives Green in a similar manner. Going horizontal-bat and aiming square on the leg side against a ball that was always going to smash the stumps, I believe Green simply miscalculated the length or became overly optimistic.
Rinku Singh enters after KKR is 116 for 3 in 12.2 overs.
For Raghuvanshi, fifty
Raghuvanshi had a good little innings, reaching his half-century in 32 balls. At one time, he was on 22 off 17, but since then, he has consistently found the boundaries. Go from 45 to 49 with a top shot in the 14th over. Jacob Duffy sent it away to the left of deep midwicket with a stunning Shubman-Gill-style short-arm jab. The ball was shortish but not quite there for the full-blooded pull on a pitch where the odd one has stayed low.
In 14 overs, KKR is 131 for 3.
Runs are starting to flow
Compared to the pitch used for the RCB-MI game, this one is far better to bat on, even though it isn't exactly flat. Since entering the game, Rinku Singh has been able to pace his shots, and he just crossed the ball to hook Josh Hazlewood for six. Raghuvanshi also had a beautiful shot in the previous over, an easy inside-out six off Krunal that easily cleared both the digital ad hoardings and the boundary cushions at extra-cover.
With four overs remaining, KKR is 153 for 3.
192 for four
When the final four overs started, KKR appeared to be headed for 200, but RCB's quicks kept them to 192 thanks to some superb death bowling. Hazlewood, Rasikh, and Bhuvneshwar have all bowled excellent yorkers; they typically err on the full side and bowl low full-tosses instead of slot balls when they have missed. Rinku hit Bhuvi for a huge six over midwicket on the one occasion they did.
Rinku finishes 49 not out off 29 balls, while Raghuvanshi is run out off the final ball for 71 off 46 balls. Which side is currently happier? I'm not sure if KKR has the seam attack to defend this total because 192 seems like it could be a difficult chase with the assistance of the seamers.
Dubey gets off to a great start
Despite being a bit of a late bloomer at the age of 28, he certainly looks the part. Saurabh Dubey, an impact player for KKR, had a strong first over in his IPL debut. The left-arm quick beats Jacob Bethell's outside edge three times in the first four balls and concedes just a leg bye and one run off the bat. It moves it in both directions with a little swing but predominantly seam.
Kohli launches from the starting blocks
4 1lb 1lb 4 4 4
He has lost his last two games, but tonight he seems to be in a great groove. Although Vaibhav Arora has been all over the place, Virat Kohli's shotmaking has been of the highest calibre. He's timing the ball so precisely. RCB are 20 for no loss after taking 18 off the second over.
Bethell's retaliation
6 4 4 0 1 1
Even if you bowl a superb first over and defeat a top-tier international batter three times in four balls, you still have to bowl again, and if you make a small mistake, you will be penalised. When Jacob Bethell puts Saurabh Dubey to the sword in the third over, he discovers this. Sashays out to the first ball, launching the left-armer for a straight six. This causes Dubey to err slightly short and wide off the next two balls, which Bethell expertly hits for two fours square on the off side.
Over the past two overs, both ends' timing has been outstanding. In three overs, RCB is 36 for no loss.
Tyagi attacks
And from Kartik Tyagi, what a ball as well. Banged in short, and Bethell is outpaced by the short ball. Due to his limited space, he is unable to extend his arms during the pull, thus he top-edges into his helmet, causing the ball to loop back to the bowler. In 3.2 overs, RCB is 37 for 1.
Devdutt Padikkal, the Impact Player, enters.
66 for one
RCB had a fantastic powerplay, and Virat Kohli appeared to be in terrific form against the quicks. He is batting on 30 off 14 after hitting four fours and now a hooked six against Tyagi in the sixth over. It was always going to be an issue going into this chase because KKR's seamers haven't yet been as disciplined as their RCB colleagues. With three Sunil Narine overs left, RCB currently needs 127 off 84 balls.
Kohli receives fifty
KKR versus Krunal
From Raghuvanshi and Green, this is excellent. It has been difficult to get the quick bowlers off this wicket since it is a little two-paced. In order to prevent Krunal Pandya from settling into a length, KKR has attempted to put him under strain. In the tenth over, Raghuvanshi slog-swept him off a good-length ball. Green has since recovered to shovel-pull two slightly short deliveries, one for a six and another for a four due to a boundary fumble.
KKR is 111 for 2 after Krunal was dismissed for 29 in three overs.
Salam, Skiddy
In the last RCB match against MI in Raipur, Rasikh Salam scored Naman Dhir with a ball that skidded through a little low. Although this one didn't stay low, he now receives Green in a similar manner. Going horizontal-bat and aiming square on the leg side against a ball that was always going to smash the stumps, I believe Green simply miscalculated the length or became overly optimistic.
Rinku Singh enters after KKR is 116 for 3 in 12.2 overs.
For Raghuvanshi, fifty
Raghuvanshi had a good little innings, reaching his half-century in 32 balls. At one time, he was on 22 off 17, but since then, he has consistently found the boundaries. Go from 45 to 49 with a top shot in the 14th over. Jacob Duffy sent it away to the left of deep midwicket with a stunning Shubman-Gill-style short-arm jab. The ball was shortish but not quite there for the full-blooded pull on a pitch where the odd one has stayed low.
In 14 overs, KKR is 131 for 3.
Runs are starting to flow
Compared to the pitch used for the RCB-MI game, this one is far better to bat on, even though it isn't exactly flat. Since entering the game, Rinku Singh has been able to pace his shots, and he just crossed the ball to hook Josh Hazlewood for six. Raghuvanshi also had a beautiful shot in the previous over, an easy inside-out six off Krunal that easily cleared both the digital ad hoardings and the boundary cushions at extra-cover.
With four overs remaining, KKR is 153 for 3.
192 for four
When the final four overs started, KKR appeared to be headed for 200, but RCB's quicks kept them to 192 thanks to some superb death bowling. Hazlewood, Rasikh, and Bhuvneshwar have all bowled excellent yorkers; they typically err on the full side and bowl low full-tosses instead of slot balls when they have missed. Rinku hit Bhuvi for a huge six over midwicket on the one occasion they did.
Rinku finishes 49 not out off 29 balls, while Raghuvanshi is run out off the final ball for 71 off 46 balls. Which side is currently happier? I'm not sure if KKR has the seam attack to defend this total because 192 seems like it could be a difficult chase with the assistance of the seamers.
Dubey gets off to a great start
Despite being a bit of a late bloomer at the age of 28, he certainly looks the part. Saurabh Dubey, an impact player for KKR, had a strong first over in his IPL debut. The left-arm quick beats Jacob Bethell's outside edge three times in the first four balls and concedes just a leg bye and one run off the bat. It moves it in both directions with a little swing but predominantly seam.
Kohli launches from the starting blocks
4 1lb 1lb 4 4 4
He has lost his last two games, but tonight he seems to be in a great groove. Although Vaibhav Arora has been all over the place, Virat Kohli's shotmaking has been of the highest calibre. He's timing the ball so precisely. RCB are 20 for no loss after taking 18 off the second over.
Bethell's retaliation
6 4 4 0 1 1
Even if you bowl a superb first over and defeat a top-tier international batter three times in four balls, you still have to bowl again, and if you make a small mistake, you will be penalised. When Jacob Bethell puts Saurabh Dubey to the sword in the third over, he discovers this. Sashays out to the first ball, launching the left-armer for a straight six. This causes Dubey to err slightly short and wide off the next two balls, which Bethell expertly hits for two fours square on the off side.
Over the past two overs, both ends' timing has been outstanding. In three overs, RCB is 36 for no loss.
Tyagi attacks
And from Kartik Tyagi, what a ball as well. Banged in short, and Bethell is outpaced by the short ball. Due to his limited space, he is unable to extend his arms during the pull, thus he top-edges into his helmet, causing the ball to loop back to the bowler. In 3.2 overs, RCB is 37 for 1.
Devdutt Padikkal, the Impact Player, enters.
66 for one
RCB had a fantastic powerplay, and Virat Kohli appeared to be in terrific form against the quicks. He is batting on 30 off 14 after hitting four fours and now a hooked six against Tyagi in the sixth over. It was always going to be an issue going into this chase because KKR's seamers haven't yet been as disciplined as their RCB colleagues. With three Sunil Narine overs left, RCB currently needs 127 off 84 balls.
Kohli receives fifty
Like Raghuvanshi earlier in the day, he raises it in 32 balls. Different scoring pattern: Kohli scored quickly before slowing down a bit after the powerplay, but he and Padikkal are currently in complete control of this chase. RCB needs 92 off the next ten overs after going 101 for 1 in the first ten.
Tyagi pings Patidar after getting Padikkal
RCB needed 64 from the final seven overs, therefore KKR needed any kind of delivery that could result in a wicket, even if it wasn't a wicket-taking ball. Padikkal has enough breadth to slap the ball away after creating space, but the offcutter hits the pitch too early and with insufficient force, going straight to extra-cover.
RCB is 129 for 2 in 13.1 overs, while Padikkal is out for 39 off 27.
Whoa, Tyagi strikes a batter on the helmet for the second time today. The first came from the upper edge of Jacob Bethell. I believe Rajat Patidar has been hammered hard by this one. He is short, climbs clumsily, and may not reach the height Patidar anticipates. He looks away from the ball and tries to move his head out of the way. ultimately gives him a back-of-the-helmet slap. After a concussion test, he is cleared to resume.
Patidar is given to Narine
When Patidar is in the mood, he can pound even decent lengths from spinners. Earlier in the over, Patidar had just monstered Narine for a massive six over midwicket, but Narine retaliates with some clever bowling. slows it down a bit, and the right-hander is left with the carrom ball. swings a bit too early, skews it up to the man at backwards point, and cuts across it while trying to strike straight. In 16 overs, RCB is 157 for 3.
It's interesting to note that KKR was 153 for 3 at this point, but despite some outstanding death bowling from Bhuvi, Hazlewood, and Rasikh, they were unable to achieve the explosive finish they desired.
Kohli activates it
vintage items. Earlier in the over, Anukul Roy pulled a four, although it was a long hop. But this is simply magnificent. He simply steps forward and stretches his arms through a straight punch with little any follow-through to launch it high, straight, and sweet for six, even if it's not necessarily a slot ball.
RCB needs 21 off 18. Kohli finishes the 17th over on 92 off 54. The math is working flawlessly.
Kohli scores 99*, while Pandey wins a blinder
With what may be the shot of his innings, Kohli jumps from 92 to 98; Anukul's straight six is another possibility. When Kartik Tyagi bowls it a little too straight and full, those wrists take control and blow it over the long, wide boundary.
He then takes a single. Then Tyagi sends Tim David back, but Manish Pandey's brilliant one-handed dive at full stretch, low to the left, intercepts his clean square cut. Amazing athleticism. The third umpire checked to see if he had caught it cleanly, and it was evident that he had. Excellent. Tyagi's follow-through and Kohli's non-striker's end both had amazing reactions as Pandey arrives in the ball's path like an apparition.
Jitesh Sharma then scores a single. off the final ball of the over. Why? RCB need 12 off 12.
It's there!
IPL Century No. 9. first since 2024. And one of his calmest and smoothest.
reaches the milestone in 58 balls after receiving a low full-toss from Vaibhav Arora that is angled away from him from around the wicket and driven down to long-off.
RCB is back at the top of the standings
Everyone will be delighted by Kohli's magnificent, undefeated century in a chase. From beginning to end, the ride was buttery smooth. However, the narrative of this game, in my opinion, is that RCB were simply far, far better with the ball today than an inexperienced and erratic KKR seam attack. This pitch had some potential for seamers, but RCB used it far more effectively and forced KKR to put in much more effort to get runs.
Tyagi pings Patidar after getting Padikkal
RCB needed 64 from the final seven overs, therefore KKR needed any kind of delivery that could result in a wicket, even if it wasn't a wicket-taking ball. Padikkal has enough breadth to slap the ball away after creating space, but the offcutter hits the pitch too early and with insufficient force, going straight to extra-cover.
RCB is 129 for 2 in 13.1 overs, while Padikkal is out for 39 off 27.
Whoa, Tyagi strikes a batter on the helmet for the second time today. The first came from the upper edge of Jacob Bethell. I believe Rajat Patidar has been hammered hard by this one. He is short, climbs clumsily, and may not reach the height Patidar anticipates. He looks away from the ball and tries to move his head out of the way. ultimately gives him a back-of-the-helmet slap. After a concussion test, he is cleared to resume.
Patidar is given to Narine
When Patidar is in the mood, he can pound even decent lengths from spinners. Earlier in the over, Patidar had just monstered Narine for a massive six over midwicket, but Narine retaliates with some clever bowling. slows it down a bit, and the right-hander is left with the carrom ball. swings a bit too early, skews it up to the man at backwards point, and cuts across it while trying to strike straight. In 16 overs, RCB is 157 for 3.
It's interesting to note that KKR was 153 for 3 at this point, but despite some outstanding death bowling from Bhuvi, Hazlewood, and Rasikh, they were unable to achieve the explosive finish they desired.
Kohli activates it
vintage items. Earlier in the over, Anukul Roy pulled a four, although it was a long hop. But this is simply magnificent. He simply steps forward and stretches his arms through a straight punch with little any follow-through to launch it high, straight, and sweet for six, even if it's not necessarily a slot ball.
RCB needs 21 off 18. Kohli finishes the 17th over on 92 off 54. The math is working flawlessly.
Kohli scores 99*, while Pandey wins a blinder
With what may be the shot of his innings, Kohli jumps from 92 to 98; Anukul's straight six is another possibility. When Kartik Tyagi bowls it a little too straight and full, those wrists take control and blow it over the long, wide boundary.
He then takes a single. Then Tyagi sends Tim David back, but Manish Pandey's brilliant one-handed dive at full stretch, low to the left, intercepts his clean square cut. Amazing athleticism. The third umpire checked to see if he had caught it cleanly, and it was evident that he had. Excellent. Tyagi's follow-through and Kohli's non-striker's end both had amazing reactions as Pandey arrives in the ball's path like an apparition.
Jitesh Sharma then scores a single. off the final ball of the over. Why? RCB need 12 off 12.
It's there!
IPL Century No. 9. first since 2024. And one of his calmest and smoothest.
reaches the milestone in 58 balls after receiving a low full-toss from Vaibhav Arora that is angled away from him from around the wicket and driven down to long-off.
RCB is back at the top of the standings
Everyone will be delighted by Kohli's magnificent, undefeated century in a chase. From beginning to end, the ride was buttery smooth. However, the narrative of this game, in my opinion, is that RCB were simply far, far better with the ball today than an inexperienced and erratic KKR seam attack. This pitch had some potential for seamers, but RCB used it far more effectively and forced KKR to put in much more effort to get runs.
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