Virat Kohli scored a historic unbeaten century to lead Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a six-wicket win over the Kolkata Knight Riders on 13 May 2026. The match 57 took place at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur.
Consequently, this victory moved the defending champions to the top of the IPL 2026 points table with 16 points. Kohli’s masterclass overshadowed a career-best 71 from KKR’s Angkrish Raghuvanshi and a late cameo by RInku Singh.
Virat Kohli Makes History in Stunning Run Chase
Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten 105* off just 60 deliveries. Furthermore, he became the fastest player in history to complete 14,000 runs in T20 cricket, reaching the mark in his 409th innings. Additionally, this was his ninth IPL century, which extended his record for the most hundreds in the tournament’s history.
Kartik Tyagi dismissed Jacob Bethell for 15 in the fourth over. However, Kohli struck 11 boundaries and three sixes during his stay at the crease. Meanwhile, Devdutt Padikkal provided an important partnership as they added 92 runs for the second wicket. Although KKR bowlers tried to defend the chase, Kohli reached his century in the 19th over. Finally, Jitesh Sharma hit a boundary on the first ball of the 20th over to seal the win with five balls to spare.
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Raghuvanshi and Rinku Singh Power KKR to 192
Kolkata Knight Riders set a competitive target of 192 and lost 4 wickets, after being asked to bat first. The match started after a delay of nearly 90 minutes due to rain and lightning. KKR lost their openers, Finn Allen and Ajinkya Rahane, within the powerplay as Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood struck early.
However, young Angkrish Raghuvanshi made 71 runs off 46 balls. He shared a 68-run partnership with Cameron Green, who contributed 32 runs. Consequently, KKR controlled the middle overs. Rinku Singh scored an unbeaten 49 runs from 29 balls. Despite these efforts, RCB’s bowlers kept the score under 200 through disciplined death bowling by Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
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Dropped Catches and Tactical Substitutions
First, KKR lost an important chance when Rovman Powell dropped Virat Kohli’s catch on 21. King Kohli went on to score his unbeaten century. Vaibhav Arora dropped Devdutt Padikkal’s catch on 22 and they added 92 runs for the partnership.
In a post-match conference, RCB’s Kunal Pandya praised Virat Kohli saying that the Chase Master is a different beast and that he is never under pressure.
The Impact Player strategy also played a significant role. Devdutt Padikkal was the impact player for RCB. KKR brought in Saurabh Dubey as an Impact Sub on his IPL debut. Kartik Tyagi played brilliantly by taking 3 wickets for 32 runs, but KKR couldn’t defend the chase.
Playoff Implications and Points Table Update
RCB now sits at the top of the table with 16 points from 12 matches. They are level on points with the Gujarat Titans but lead because of a superior net run rate. Consequently, RCB has almost certainly secured a spot in the playoffs.
In contrast, the Kolkata Knight Riders remain in eighth place with only nine points from 11 games. They must win all their remaining three matches at Eden Gardens to stay in the race for the top four. However, their playoff hopes have significantly faded after this loss.
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