IPL 2019 RCB vs KKR: Kohli, De Villiers fifties power Bangalore to 205/3

‘King Kohli’ overtook Suresh Raina to become the highest run-scorer in the Indian Premier League. The RCB skipper achieved this feat only after making his 17th fifty, hitting nine fours and two sixes in today's match against KKR

Virat Kohli (84 off 49) and AB de Villiers (63 off 32) shared a 108-run stand to power Royal Challengers Bangalore to 205 for three against Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League on Friday. RCB skipper Virat Kohli cannot remain far away from breaking records or reaching milestones in the shortest format of the game as he scaled yet another milestone when he took the field to lead RCB against Kolkata. ‘King Kohli’, taking his IPL runs tally to 5110 runs, overtook Suresh Raina (5086 runs ) to become the highest run-scorer in Indian Premier League history besides completing 8000 runs in T-20 cricket. The RCB skipper achieved this feat only after making his 17th fifty, hitting nine fours and two sixes against KKR. Kohli is the second Indian batsman to complete 8000 runs in T-20 cricket after veteran Suresh Raina. Raina, who plays for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL, has 8,110 runs to his name in the shortest format of the game.

Captain Kohli's stylish 84(42) lights up Bengaluru https://t.co/yrsGdr5QT3 via @ipl

— Shivam Sharma (@Shivam_Sharma33) April 5, 2019

By his lofty standards, Kohli has been pretty subdued notching up the scores of 23, 3, 46 and 6 in the IPL 2019 so far. The RCB skipper hit some beautiful cover drives early on in his innings. De Villiers too was in his element, smashing five fours and four maximums. Kohli was finally out in the 18th over off Kuldeep Yadav as he hit the ball straight into the bowler's hands. He was particularly severe on Prasidh Krishna, Lockie Fergusson and Nitesh Rana. De Villiers played second fiddle to Kohli before cutting loose to produce some massive hits. In the last over, Marcus Stoinis belted 18 runs off Prasidh with the help of two boundaries and a six, pushing the total past 200 mark. Needing a good start desperately, Parthiv Patel and Kohli gave a good start for first time in the tournament, stitching 64 runs for the first wicket in 7.5 overs. Patel was LBW to Nitesh Rana after scoring 25 off 24 balls with three boundaries to his credit.