Virat Kohli Makes IPL History with Unprecedented Feat

Bengaluru (The Uttam Hindu): Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) put on a superb performance to defeat Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 6 wickets in the first match of IPL 2026 played at the M. Chinnaswamy Cricket Stadium on Saturday. Virat Kohli played a key role with the bat in RCB's victory. Kohli's unbeaten 69 marked another major achievement in the IPL.

Kohli has become the first batsman to complete 4000 runs while chasing runs in IPL. Chasing the target of 202 runs given by Sunrisers Hyderabad, RCB team did not have a good start. Virat Kohli's opening partner Phil Salt was out after scoring just 8 runs. However, after this Kohli along with Devdutt Padikkal took charge. Both made a century partnership for the second wicket. Virat looked in excellent form and scored 69 runs in just 38 balls with the help of 5 fours and 5 sixes. Padikkal also looked in excellent form and scored 61 runs in 26 balls.

Riding on strong innings from Kohli and Padikkal, RCB made history by achieving the target of 202 runs in just 15.4 overs. RCB now holds the record for successfully achieving a target of over 200 runs in the fewest number of overs in the IPL. Previously, this record was held by the Rajasthan Royals, who achieved the target of 210 runs in 15.5 overs against the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2025.

Jacob Duffy also had a stellar bowling performance for RCB. In his IPL debut, Duffy took 3 wickets for just 22 runs. Batting first, Sunrisers Hyderabad posted 201 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in 20 overs. Captain Ishan Kishan played a powerful innings of 80 runs in 38 balls for the team, while Aniket Verma scored 43 runs in 18 balls.