BANGALORE — Captain Virat Kohli smashed his second century of the IPL season to lead Royal Challengers Bangalore to a thrilling seven-wicket win over Rising Pune Supergiants Saturday.
Kohli struck an unbeaten 108 off just 58 balls with the help of eight fours and seven sixes as Bangalore chased down the challenging target of 192 with three balls to spare to notch up its third win in eight matches.
The RCB skipper entered into record books as he became the only batsman to score two tons in a single IPL season. He also joined the likes of Brendon McCullum, Shane Watson, David Warner, AB de Villiers, Adam Gilchrist and Virender Sehwag to hit two IPL centuries overall. The most number of IPL tons — five — though still belongs to Chris Gayle.
Kohli's ton also overshadowed an amazing late assault of 13-ball 36 that included five fours and two sixes by Shane Watson which suddenly tilted the balance of the match in favor of Bangalore after it was poised evenly a couple of overs after the halfway stage.
Brief scores: Rising Pune Supergiants 191 for 6 in 20 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 74, Saurabh Tiwary 52; Shane Watson 3-24) lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore 195 for three in 19.3 overs (Virat Kohli 108*; Adam Zampa 2-35).
Punjab shocks Delhi
In Mohali, Kings XI Punjab bowlers displayed exceptional death bowling skills as they shocked a formidable Delhi Daredevils by 9 runs.
Defending a target of 181, Punjab restricted Delhi to 172 for 5 even as the Zaheer Khan-led outfit looked set to get 44 off 4 overs, which was considered par for the course on a flat batting wicket.
While Punjab’s third win does not change its position on the table, but keeps it alive while Delhi will rue a missed opportunity even though it stays put at third spot on the table.
The hero for Punjab was Mohit Sharma (0-21 in 4 overs) who did not get a wicket but showed remarkable variations to bowl 12 dot balls.
Brief scores: Kings XI Punjab 181 for 5 (Stoinis 52, Saha 52; Morris 3-30) beat Delhi Daredevils 172 for 5 (de Kock 52, Samson 49; Stoinis 3-40) by nine runs. — Agencies
