Kolkata: Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 10 runs in the Indian Premier League here on Friday. Earlier, Virat Kohli notched up his fifth century in the Indian Premier League while Moeen Ali too struck a belligerent fifty to help Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) post a mammoth 213-4. Kohli took 58 balls to bring up his first ton of the season with the help of nine fours and four sixes.
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Moeen Ali, meanwhile, bludgeoned a 28-ball 66 (4×5, 6×6), as the pair added 90 runs for the third wicket off just 43 balls. After Ali’s dismissal, Kohli joined hands with Marcus Stoinis (17* off 8) for a 64-run fourth wicket partnership as the visitors amassed 143 runs in the last 10 overs to flatten the home team. Kohli got to his 50 off 40 deliveries but stepped on the accelerator to score his next 50 in just 17 deliveries before getting out to Harry Gurney off the final ball of the innings.
Among his boundaries, the most eye-catching was a square drive past point off Gurney in the 17th over. For KKR, India’s star spinner Kuldeep Yadav had a forgettable day with figures of 1/59 from 4 overs. RCB lost Parthiv Patel (11) early after the diminutive southpaw holed out to Nitish Rana at deep mid-wicket off Sunil Narine. Kohli got off to a slow start, finding the fence only in the fourth over after a horrible misfield by Shubman Gill at the deep mid-wicket boundary off Narine.
Brief scores: RCB 213-4 in 20 overs (Kohli 100, Ali 66; Narine 1/32). KKR 203-5 in 20 overs (Russell 65, Rana 85 not out; Steyn 2/40).
