Raipur: “Chase Master” Virat Kohli led the chase brilliantly, remaining unbeaten and smashing a splendid century as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) moved to the top of the points table with a comfortable six-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 57th match of the IPL 2026 season on May 13 at Raipur.
The match started after a 75-minute delay because of rain and a wet outfield. Once the conditions improved, the game finally began with RCB won the toss and elected to bowl first. KKR came with one crucial change in the absence of Varun Chakravarthy due to injury, as he was replaced by Saurabh Dubey in the playing XI. RCB, meanwhile, brought in Venkatesh Iyer in place of Sherfane Rutherford. KKR suffered an early setback as Finn Allen provided a few boundaries before being dismissed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar for 18 off 8 balls. With this wicket, Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up his 33rd wicket against KKR, drawing level with Yuzvendra Chahal at the top of the all-time list. He reached the landmark with an economy rate of 8.01 against the franchise, underlining his remarkable consistency over the years against KKR’s batting line-up. After this, wickets continued to fall as Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed by Josh Hazlewood for 19 off 13 balls with a sharp short-ball delivery, leaving KKR at 48/2 after 4.4 overs. Angkrish Raghuvanshi then revived the situation and rebuilt the innings beautifully. Together with Cameron Green, he stitched a vital 68-run partnership before Green was dismissed after scoring 32 off 24 balls. Raghuvanshi then followed it up with a superb 76-run partnership alongside Rinku Singh. Raghuvanshi played a calculated yet aggressive knock, scoring a brilliant 71 off 46 balls. With smart shot selection, he found boundaries regularly and kept the innings under control. Unfortunately, he was run out on the final ball of the innings. Meanwhile, Rinku Singh provided excellent support, remaining unbeaten with a classy 49 off just 29 deliveries, including two superb sixes. However, he narrowly missed his half-century because of the run-out situation on the last ball. KKR eventually ended strongly at 192/4 after 20 overs.
Chasing 193, RCB suffered an early blow as Kartik Tyagi dismissed Jacob Bethell cheaply. However, Virat Kohli, coming into the match after two consecutive ducks, looked completely in control from the very first delivery. He attacked confidently while ensuring the run rate stayed under control, building a steady and magnificent 92-run partnership with Devdutt Padikkal for the second wicket. Kohli reached his half-century in just 32 balls, while Padikkal played an excellent innings of 39 off 27 balls before falling to Tyagi. After Padikkal’s wicket, KKR struck twice more as skipper Rajat Patidar was dismissed for 11 by Sunil Narine, while Tim David managed only 2 off 3 balls before being dismissed after an incredible catch by Manish Pandey. Despite the quick wickets, Virat Kohli stood firm at the crease and brought up a magnificent century, remaining unbeaten on a sensational 105 off 60 balls, smashing 11 fours and 3 towering sixes.
The innings marked Kohli’s ninth IPL hundred — the most by any batter in the tournament’s history. Jos Buttler is second on the list with seven centuries. Kohli also reached a record-extending third IPL century while chasing, equalling the record for the most hundreds in successful chases in tournament history. Virat Kohli once again proved why he is called the “Chase Master” as he guided RCB to another memorable victory. With this innings, Kohli added yet another golden chapter to his legendary T20 career, becoming the fastest batter in history to complete 14,000 runs in T20 cricket during RCB’s victory over KKR. Kohli reached the landmark in just 409 innings, comfortably breaking the previous record held by Chris Gayle, who had taken 423 innings to achieve the feat. Kohli’s latest achievement once again highlighted his incredible longevity, consistency, and dominance in the shortest format of the game. He also strengthened his position as India’s highest run-scorer in T20 cricket history. The RCB superstar became the first player in IPL history to score 400 or more runs in 12 different seasons, extending his dominance over some of the league’s greatest batting legends. In the final over, RCB needed just 3 runs, and Jitesh Sharma finished the chase in style with a boundary. RCB ended at 194/4 with five balls to spare.
With this victory, RCB moved to the top of the table with 16 points, significantly strengthening their playoff position. Meanwhile, KKR continued to struggle in the lower half of the table with only 9 points after this defeat.
