Central Plains FFA Chapter

05/13 14:29 CDT Kohli's fluent 9th IPL hundred anchors Bengaluru to six-wicket win over Kolkata Kohli's fluent 9th IPL hundred anchors Bengaluru to six-wicket win over Kolkata RAIPUR, India (AP) --- Virat Kohli marked his record-breaking appearance with an unbeaten century off 58 balls to lead defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru to the top of Indian Premier League with a six-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday. Kohli, who came into the game with back-to-back ducks against Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants, hit a fluent 105 with 11 fours and three sixes in Bengaluru's authoritative run-chase of 194-4 in 19.1 overs. Angkrish Raghuvanshi third half century of the season (71) and an unbeaten 49 by Rinku Singh had lifted Kolkata to 192-4 after Bengaluru's first game at their second home was delayed for 45 minutes by rain and a wet outfield. Kohli was playing his 279th IPL game, surpassing the previous record held by Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rohit Sharma and his ninth hundred in the competition propelled Bengaluru to the No. 1 spot with 16 points. With two more league games in hand Bengaluru are now firm favorites to qualify for the playoffs. A sixth defeat in 11 games left Kolkata with nine points and in danger of missing out on the playoffs. Kohli controlled the chase with impact player Devdutt Padikkal, who scored 39 off 27 balls. Kolkata, one of the top side this season in the field, dropped catches from both batters in the 20s before they went on to share a match-winning 92-run stand. Rovman Powell couldn't hold on to an overhead catch of Kohli in the power play at short cover and Vaibhav Arora missed a sitter at deep backward square leg when Padikkal was on 22. ___ AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket