Indian Premier League 2024

'Bhai Test Championship ke liye run bachale' - Fans react as Virat Kohli scores second consecutive ton in IPL 2023

Virat Kohli smashed his second consecutive hundred of IPL 2023 as RCB took on the GT for the last league match of the season

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Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli (Source - Twitter)

Virat Kohli Virat Kohli (Source - Twitter)

Star batter Virat Kohli smashed his second consecutive hundred of IPL 2023 as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) took on the defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) for the last league match of the season at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. RCB is eyeing a place in the fourth position at the points table and confirming their fixture with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Eliminator at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

After being asked to bat first by the GT skipper Hardik Pandya, RCB once again got to flying as Kohli and the skipper Faf Du Plessis added 67 runs for the first 7.1 overs. Du Plessis got out after scoring 28 runs off 19 balls, hitting five boundaries. In the next over, Glenn Maxwell lost his wicket to Rashid Khan after scoring 11 off 5 with a four and a six. After that, Mahipal Lomror went back to the pavilion with just 1 run to his name.

After that, Kohli and Michael Bracewell took the innings further as they put up a partnership of 47 runs for the fourth wicket. Bracewell got out in the last balls of the 14th over after scoring 26 runs in 16 balls with five boundaries. A couple of deliveries later, Dinesh Karthik also went back to the pavilion for a golden duck.

RCB set a target of 198 runs for GT

After his dismissal, Kohli and Anuj Rawat put up an unbeaten partnership of 64 runs for the sixth wicket. Kohli completed his century on the first ball of the 19th over by Mohit Sharma after facing 60 deliveries. The RCB opener remained unbeaten on 101 off 61 balls, hitting 13 fours and a maximum, while Rawat added the finishing touches by scoring 23 off 15 balls as RCB scored 197 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. If they defend this total against GT, they will become the fourth team to qualify for the playoffs and will face LSG in the Eliminator.

This was the seventh hundred for Kohli in his IPL career. With this, the 34-year-old also became the batter with the most centuries in the history of the tournament, surpassing his former teammate Chris Gayle, who had six tons to his name. Kohli also came to the second position in the list of leading run scorers of IPL 2023 with 639 from 14 matches at an average of 53.25, including six half-centuries and two hundreds.

 

IPL 2023 Lucknow Super Giants Virat Kohli Royal Challengers Bangalore