Batting juggernaut Virat Kohli bludgeoned a magnificent century to help Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) bulldoze Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight wickets on Friday (May 18). Kohli's century dampened Heinrich Klaasen's brilliant ton which came for a losing cause. Klaasen rode on his maiden IPL ton (104 off 51) to power SRH to a competitive total of 186/5. But it was Kohli who hogged limelight with his record-equalling sixth IPL century which was well bolstered with Faf Du Plessis' 71 off 47 as RCB succeeded in chasing down the total with four balls to spare and inched closer to playoff berth.
Pietersen rates Klaasen's ton higher than Kohli
Meanwhile, when the world is in awe of Kohli's century, former England skipper Kevin Pietersen has a different rather unpopular opinion. Pietersen picked Klaasen's century over Kohli's splendid ton and said that he will rate South Africa's batter's effort higher than Kohli due to lack of support from SRH team in comparison to RCB.
"Let me say an unpopular thought. Heinrich's was the better ton of the two. Klaasen's innings was the better one. Imagine being part of a team that is already out, with little support. Playing for a team which is so dysfunctional...it's brilliant. The way that Klaasen played today was phenomenal," Pietersen said on Star Sports.
Riding on a magnificent 100 off 63 Kohli ended four-year-old century drought and brought his sixth IPL ton, which is the joint-most by any batter besides Gayle in IPL history.
Most IPL centuries
Virat Kohli-6
Chris Gayle-6
Jos Buttler-5
KL Rahul- 4
David Warner-4
Shane Watson-4
Kohli's incredible knock was studded with 12 fours and four maximums as he completed his century with a flicked six over mid-on off Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the 18th over. Notably Kohli struck his last IPL century back in 2019 against Kolkata Knight Riders. Four of Kohli’s six centuries came in his IPL 2016 season, when he amassed a record-breaking 973 runs.
Kohli stitched a record 172-run partnership with his skipper Du Plessis to make the light work of the challenging target. With this emphatic victory, RCB jumped to the fourth spot, thanks to their better net run rate. Notably they are tied with Mumbai Indians on 14 points with a match to spare. They will look to end their last league match against Gujarat Titans (GT) in order to cruise into IPL 2023's playoffs. Meanwhile, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are also tied on 15 points with a game left.
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