Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) climbed back into the IPL standings after defeating Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by six wickets in a strong chase on Wednesday night.
Batting first, KKR posted 192 for 4 in their allotted 20 overs after struggling in the power play. In reply, RCB chased down the target comfortably, reaching 193 for 4 in 19.1 overs, thanks to a brilliant unbeaten century by Virat Kohli.
RCB skipper Rajat Patidar won the toss and elected to field, a decision that paid off early as KKR lost both openers — Finn Allen (18 off 18) and Ajinkya Rahane (19 off 13) — cheaply. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood struck in the power play.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Cameron Green then added 68 runs for the third wicket, with Raghuvanshi scoring a fluent half-century.
Green was dismissed for 32 of 24 balls. Rinku Singh remained unbeaten on 49 of 29, while Raghuvanshi was run out for 71 on the final ball as KKR finished at 192.
In the chase, Virat Kohli played a classic anchoring innings, holding one end firm while his partners played around him. The chase master remained unbeaten on 105 off just 60 balls, guiding RCB to a comfortable victory with five balls to spare.