Virat Kohli laid a strong foundation for Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) match-winning run chase against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Tuesday (May 27). In the game, RCB successfully achieved the target of 228 runs to storm into the Qualifier 1. Moreover, Kohli who has been with the franchise since his IPL debut in 2008, added another feather to his cap with a special T20 milestone.
Virat Kohli in the LSG vs RCB match
Virat Kohli entered the field with Phil Salt to open the innings, and a massive target was in sight. He smashed 54 off just 30 deliveries including 10 fours. The star player registered a strike rate of 180. He set the momentum for the next batters before getting dismissed on Avesh Khan’s delivery in the 12th over.
Historic milestone for Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli scripted history and became the first batter to cross the 9000-run mark for a single team in T20s. Virat achieved the feat in a unique style by hitting a fur and making more than 24 runs. He has played 270 innings for RCB in IPL and CLT20 combined. This includes 8606 runs in 257 IPL innings and 424 runs in 14 CLT20 innings.
Interestingly, Kohli also surpassed David Warner for the most fifties in IPL history, with 63 half-centuries. He became the undisputed topper of the prestigious list, ahead of Warner (62), Shikhar Dhawan (51) and Rohit Sharma (46). Kohli’s eight fifties this season rank among his best, trailing only his 2016 (11 fifties) and 2023 (8 fifties) campaigns.
RCB storm into the Qualifier 1
After successfully chasing a target of 228 runs in just 18.4 overs with Jitesh Sharma’s heroics, Royal Challengers Bengaluru have climbed to the second spot in the IPL points table. They finished the league stage with 19 points from 14 matches and an NRR of +0.301.
RCB will now face Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Qualifier 1 of the league’s 18th edition on Thursday (May 29). If they manage to win the match, they will make their way directly to the summit clash of the ongoing tournament scheduled on June 3. If they lose the game against PBKS, they will still have a chance to make it to the final after defeating the winner of the Eliminator in Qualifier 2.
