CHENNAI: Virat Kohli hit an unbeaten 72-ball 113 as Royal Challengers Bengaluru posted 183/3 against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on Saturday.
Put into bat first, RCB started off well with Kohli taking on Nandre Burger. The former captain hit the South African for two boundaries in the second over. Pull shots against Trent Boult and Burger in subsequent overs meant RCB raced to 42/0.
That is when RR resorted to spin, and R Ashwin delivered a boundary-less over. With Avesh Khan playing a decent role at the other end, Ashwin continued. Chahal, too, joined, keeping RCB in check. Between overs 5-8, they added only 22 runs with Kohli going from 30 off 22 to 38 from 35 balls.
Boult came back, but this time Faf du Plessis jumped at it, hitting him for two sixes. Kohli, meanwhile, sent Yuzvendra Chahal over long-on as RCB got a boost. Kohli brought up his fifty in 39 balls, but RR weren't giving up.
A couple of tight overs continued and as a result, Du Plessis fell for 44 from 33 balls to Chahal. Glenn Maxwell also got out, but Kohli kept things going. He hit three fours of Avesh and soon he was in the 90s. Even as Saurav Chauhan got out, Kohli kept it going. He struggled to find boundaries on a pitch that did not seem like easy to bat on and held the innings together for RCB. He eventually brought his century of 67 balls, the joint-slowest ever in the league since Manish Pandey's 67-ball ton, with a single down the ground.
Kohli hit Avesh for three more fours in the last over as RCB posted 183/3. The former captain carried the bat with an unbeaten 113 from 72 balls.