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Virat Kohli struck an unbeaten 105 to lead defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru to the top of the IPL table with a six-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday.
Kohli returned to form after back-to-back ducks as he steered his team home in a chase of 193 in Raipur with an excellent 60-ball innings.
The 37-year-old scored his ninth IPL hundred, hitting 11 fours and three sixes.
Bengaluru notched their eighth victory in 12 matches this season to usurp Gujarat Titans at the top of the 10-team table on net run-rate, moving closer to securing a playoff spot.
Three-time champions Kolkata suffered their sixth defeat in 11 matches as their slim chances of making the playoffs suffered a blow.
The top four will make the playoffs, with the final to be played in Ahmedabad on May 31.
Kohli got off the mark with a single in the first over of the chase, punching the air in mock celebration after his successive ducks.
He lost his opening partner Jacob Bethell for 15 but put on 92 runs with Devdutt Padikkal, who made 39, for the second wicket.
Kohli was dropped on 21 and made Kolkata pay, bringing up his fifty in 32 balls.
Bengaluru lost Padikkal, skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad and then Tim David to a stunning one-handed diving catch at backward point by Manish Pandey.
But Kohli kept calm to reach his first hundred of the season, soaking in the applause before wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma hitting the winning runs.
Earlier, Kolkata posted 192-4 after a 46-ball 71 by Angkrish Raghuvanshi.
Raghuvanshi put on strong partnerships including with Cameron Green, who scored 32, and Rinku Singh, who finished with a flourish in his unbeaten, 29-ball 49.
Pace bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood and Rasikh Salam took one wicket each.
Meanwhile, Struggling to reignite their campaign after four successive defeats, last year’s finalists, Punjab Kings Assistant Bowling Coach Trevor Gonsalves, emphasised that the team remains focused on the task at hand for their clash with the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 in Dharamshala on Thursday.
With three league matches remaining, Punjab Kings are hoping to return to winning ways against the Mumbai Indians in a critical fixture on Thursday, and Gonsalves said they have worked on the weak areas to ensure no mistakes are made in the next game.
Gonsalves maintained that despite a few difficult games, there has been no change in the environment of the team and dressing room, with everybody having a positive outlook towards the remainder of the tournament.
“It is exactly as it was when we started. Nothing has changed at all in the dressing room. We are quite confident about it. Three games are a lot of games, it’s not less, and we hope to do our best. Yes, there were some ups and downs. There were some places where we needed to iron it out; we’ve done that, and we will be back,” he said regarding the team’s mindset heading into the final stretch of the season. Addressing the team’s fielding issues, Gonsalves acknowledged the impact of missed opportunities while highlighting the work being done in training to ensure it is not repeated.
“We have dropped, yes, I agree to it. There could be a lot of reasons, including the crowd behind, the lights, and everything. But at this elite level, yes, those catches need to be taken. There is no doubt that we have been dented by them. But we are on it. You can see the practice is on till late. We are working very hard on it, and hopefully we will set it right,” he noted.
Further speaking about the recent losses and how the team is planning to bounce back from them, the coach said, “If you ask me personally, I would really say what has happened is not too bad, and it’s not too good either. But yes, from here on, peaking would be the main key. And all big cricketers like Arshdeep, Yuzvendra Chahal, and other big guys wait for such platforms. This is where they will make a show of themselves and prove what we are.” While speaking about the conditions on the ground for the upcoming game in Dharamshala, the coach noted that the toss and local conditions would play a significant role, as the wicket is changing due to the weather.
“If you have seen, the wicket looks different now and will look different tomorrow. It’s very difficult to assess now what is going to happen. But yes, looking at the weather conditions, looking at the ground, the size of the ground, there are some things that we have discussed today that we need to get into play…The wicket conditions have a lot to play.
Agencies
