In the 57th match of the IPL 2026, RCB faced KKR on the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur. Bhuvaneswar Kumar strike early in the powerplay, in the 3rd over he took the wicket of Finn Allen. KKR posted a total of 192 on the board with the help of Angkrish Raghuvanshi & Rinku Singh. Raghuvanshi scored 71 runs in just 46 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes whereas Rinku Singh smashed 49 runs in 29 balls. But the show was staged for Virat Kohli and RCB who pulled up an outstanding victory in the game and eventually placed at the top of the table in IPL 2026. Kohli scored an unbeaten century, the 9th one of his career and put his team out of the box to win the match comprehensively against KKR.
Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 105 powers RCB chase
Kohli had a flyng start of that innings, where he started to hit boundaries from the second over of the run chase. He smashed 4 boundaries to Vaibhav Arora in the second over and made his intention clear that to hit the ball out of park if it is in the zone. While on the personal score of 23 runs Kohli gave a tough chance to mid on, though the field couldn’t take that. He reached the half century mark in the 10th over of the run chase and in just 32 balls.
Though RCB lost Jacob Betthel earlier in the run chase in just 37 runs on the board but with Devdut Padikkal, Kohli stabalized the innings with a 92 runs partnership. Kohli didn’t stop scoring and not gave any chance to KKR bowlers to take advantange in the game or the required run rate was not a pressure for RCB in the chase. Rajat Patidar and Tim David stayed short in the crease but Kohli was unbeaten in the innings with a 105 runs in just 60 balls and RCB chased down 194 in just 19.1 overs.
RCB vs KKR : IPL 2026 Playoffs Qualification Scenario
With this win against KKR, in IPL 2026, RCB is now at the top of the table with 16 points on their name in 12 matches, moreover that, they have the best NRR in the table so far with +1.053. So it is quite obvious for them to qualify for the playoffs this season. Whereas KKR has managed only 9 points in their 11 matches so far in this season and placed the 8th spot in the points table.
While both LSG & MI has been out of the playoffs competition, the rest 8 teams are in the race of qualification. So far it has been very interesting without being one sided tournament. Among the 8 teams KKR’s NRR is moderately lower side -0.193, only DC is lower than them. So KKR’s qualification depends on their wins in rest 3 matches alongside the performance of the other teams in the rest of the group stage games.
Virat Kohli All Centuries in IPL
| Date | Opponent | Score | Venue | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 24, 2016 | Gujarat Lions | 100* off 63 balls | Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium | RCB 180/2, Gujarat Lions won (182/4 in 19.3 overs) |
| May 7, 2016 | Rising Pune Supergiants | 108* off 58 balls | Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium | RCB chased 192, won at 191/6 in 19.3 overs |
| May 14, 2016 | Gujarat Lions | 109 off 55 balls | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium | RCB 248/3, won by 144 runs |
| May 18, 2016 | Kings XI Punjab | 113 off 50 balls | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium | RCB 211/3, won by 82 runs (DLS method) |
| April 19, 2019 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 100 off 58 balls | Eden Gardens | RCB 213/4, won by 10 runs |
| May 18, 2023 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 100 off 63 balls | Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium | RCB chased 186, won at 187/2 in 19.2 overs |
| May 21, 2023 | Gujarat Titans | 101* off 61 balls | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium | RCB 197/5, Gujarat Titans won (198/4 in 19.1 overs) |
| April 7, 2024 | Chennai Super Kings | 113* off 62 balls | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium | RCB chased 205, won at 208/3 in 19.4 overs |
| May 13, 2026 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 105* off 60 balls | Shaheed Veer Narayan Stadium | RCB chased 193, won by 6 wickets with 5 balls to spare |
Virat Kohli so far has scored 9 centuries in his IPL career starting from 2008. One of the most extraordinary point is since the inception of his IPL career Virat has played for RCB only. Among his 9 hundres the best score is 113* against Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2024. That innings helped RCB to chase down a total of 205 comprehensively. He also scored 113 runs against Punjab in IPL 2016 and that was also in a winning cause, RCB won the match by 10 runs. Virat Kohli IPL centuries has been very crucial for RCB point of view, in terms of winning matches as well as qualifying for the playoffs.
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