Virat Kohli achieves historic feat in IPL 2024 match against Punjab Kings

Virat Kohli silenced his critics with a fiery knock on Monday as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) beat Punjab Kings (PBKS) by four wickets at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Kohli made it more than clear that he is not done with T20 cricket, scoring at a strike rate of 157.14 and proving that he should be one of the first names on the sheet for the 2024 T20 World Cup squad.

During his 77-run knock, Kohli became the first Indian batter, and only the third overall after Chris Gayle and David Warner, to achieve the feat of scoring 100 fifty-plus scores in T20 cricket.

Gayle holds the record with 110 fifty-plus scores (88 fifties and 22 hundreds) while Warner has 109 (101 fifties and eight hundreds).

Kohli carried RCB’s run chase with his blistering knock as the hosts targeted 177 runs. After winning the toss, RCB skipper Faf du Plessis sent PBKS in to bat first. The visitors scored 176 runs in their 20 overs.

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In reply, Kohli got RCB’s run chase off to a flying start, smashing Sam Curran for four boundaries in the first over. He played the role of an aggressor and kept the scoreboard ticking, racing off to 33 runs in 15 balls. The RCB overseas batting core of Du Plessis, Cameron Green and Glenn Maxwell did not live up to the expectations, scoring three runs each.

Kohli was eventually dismissed for 77 off 49 balls, leaving RCB stranded at 130-5 after 16 overs. At that point, the hosts needed 47 runs to win off 24 balls. It looked like RCB were on the brink of defeat but Dinesh Karthik came up clutch with a match-winning knock and helped his side cross the finish line with four balls to spare.

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There has been a lot of negative noise surrounding Kohli’s future in T20s, but the 35-year-old showed once again that it is still too early to count him off. He made it clear that he can be the difference maker, regardless of the format.

RCB will next face Kolkata Knight Riders on 29 March in Bengaluru.