Virat Kohli goes ‘extra mile’ to keep Royal Challengers Bangalore fighting

Virat Kohli powered Royal Challengers Bangalore to a victory over Rising Pune Supergiants with a knock of 108 not out on Saturday to give oomph to their play-off hopes.

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain and batsman Virat Kohli celebrates hitting a century in his team's IPL win on Saturday. Manjunath Kiran / AFP / May 7, 2016

Royal Challengers Bangalore (195/3 in 19.3) d. Rising Pune Supergiants (191/6 in 20) by 7 wickets

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli set two new records in the Indian Premier League yesterday when he played a match-winning knock of 108 not out to beat Rising Pune Supergiants by seven wickets.

Apart from being the only batsman to hit two centuries in a single edition of the IPL – he hit an unbeaten 100 against Gujarat Lions last month – Kohli is the only captain to score 500 plus runs in three IPL editions, including 505 in 2015 and 634 in 2013.

That 634 is also a record as the most runs scored by a captain in IPL. Sachin Tendulkar, his idol, has scored 500-plus scores in IPL in two editions for Mumbai Indians in 2010 and 2011.

Though Kohli’s unbeaten 100 in 63 balls went in vain at Rajkot as RCB lost to Gujarat by six wickets, his knock Saturday was littered with seven sixes and eight fours in 58 balls as he steered Bangalore to victory, after a hat-trick of losses.

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Pune’s imposing total of 191 for six, led by Ajinkya Rahane’s 74, was not enough.

“Today I was motivated to go that extra mile and we needed to win six out of seven to qualify,” Kohli told StarSports.

“I’m just happy we could pull that one off. It’s never easy in a chase when you need to find boundaries at the right time.”

As an opener too, Kohli’s scintillating batting and superlative drives earned him the man-of-the-match award and another reward for maximum sixes in the match.

“When you are chasing 12-13 per over and losing wickets, you can’t bog down. You’d rather pick an area and get your boundaries there.

“I always check my heart rate. If it’s fine then I can take better decisions. It’s all about keeping your nerves and enthusiasm in check.”

The defeat for Rising Pune Supergiants left their play-off hopes hanging on a thread.

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