IPL 2026 | Virat Kohli's splendid ton propels RCB to top; pushes KKR to the brink

Virat Kohli notched up his ninth IPL century to lead Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a comfortable six-wicket win against Kolkata Knight Riders at Raipur on Wednesday.

Kohli remained unbeaten on 105 off 60 balls as he plated a classic knock, consisting of plenty of twos. He also hammered 11 fours and three sixes as he led his team to the target of 193 in 19.1 overs.

The veteran, who had come on the back of two ducks, started with a flurry of boundaries in the powerplay, before dropping anchor as RCB moved to the top of the table.

Out of his 14 shots that reached the boundary ropes, a straight six off the bowling of left-arm spinner Anukul Roy and a flick of the wrists for a big hit stood out as Kohli dispalyed a range of shots.

He was ably supported by Devdutt Padikkal, who scored 39 runs after the proxy-hosts lost an early wicket of Jacob Bethell.

On a day when bowler's struggled, pacer Kartik Tyagi stood out with a spell of 3/32 in his four overs.

Earlier, Rajat Patidar won the toss and elected to bowl first. Bhuvneshwar Kumar responded yet again with an early wicket, this time of the dangerous-looking Finn Allen.

However, Angkrish Raghuvanshi counter-attacked to register a half-century and was only dismissed via a runout of the last delivery of the innings. In his 46-ball knock, the youngster scored 71 runs with the help of seven fours and three sixes.

Rinku Singh provided a flourishing finish and remained unbeaten on 49 off 29 balls, while Cameron Green contributed 32 runs. However, the score of 192 was not enough as Kohli decided to put on a masterclass.

With the defeat, KKR are now at the brink with just nine points from 11 matches. The maximum they can now reach is 15 points and will need other teams to remain on 14 points for a chance at the Playoffs.

RCB reclaimed the top spot and will not be eyeing a top 2 finish as they also have a healthy Net Run Rate.