RCB vs GT: Virat Kohli hits new high in T20s to help RCB register their best-ever IPL powerplay score

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Virat Kohli yet again played a crucial role for his team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. He helped his team win the game against Gujarat Titans (GT) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday (4th May). 

Royal Challengers Bengaluru registered their 4th win of the IPL 2024 as they defeated the opposition by 4 wickets. It was a magnificent effort from them with the ball as they bundled out Gujarat Titans for just 147 runs on a pitch, where 170-180 looked like a par score. 

However, after that Virat Kohli stole the limelight with his brutal batting in the powerplay. It's fair to say that he along with skipper Faf du Plessis took the game away from the opposition inside the powerplay and put the Gujarat Titans bowlers under pressure at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. 

Virat Kohli started off the proceedings on high as he hit 2 sixes in the first over and then after that he didn't look back. He also slammed debutant Manav Suthar for two back-to-back sixes in the 5th over. With four sixes, he achieved the massive feat for the first time in his T20 career. 

It was for the first time that across 387 T20s, Virat Kohli smashed four sixes in a powerplay in an innings. The batter was at his best in the first 6 overs and didn't put a foot wrong, helping his team get big runs in the initial stage of the game. 

On the other end, Faf du Plessis didn't take a step back as he too took attack to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru bowlers and slammed them all over the park. He brought up his half-century and ended with an innings of 63 runs off 23 balls with 10 fours and 3 sixes. 

Virat Kohli, who scored 42 runs, and Faf du Plessis added 92 runs for the opening partnership. However, what was astonishing was that it all came in the powerplay. It also helped them to script history in the league as they registered their highest-ever score in the powerplay. 

This was also the 6th highest score in the powerplay in the history of the league. Here's the entire list of the highest powerplay scores in the IPL: 

125/0 - SRH vs DC, 2024

105/0 - KKR vs RCB, 2017

100/2 - CSK vs PBKS, 2014

93/1 - PBKS vs KKR, 2024

92/2 - DC vs MI, 2024

92/1 - RCB vs GT, today*

Was important we didn't look at the scoreboard when we went out to bat and try and play the way we play - Faf du Plessis 

Faf du Plessis after the match talked about the batting performance, stating that it was important that they don't look at the scorecard and start as they wanted to. He also admitted that they wanted to finish the game quickly to boost the NRR. He explained: 

"Was important we didn't look at the scoreboard when we went out to bat and try and play the way we play. Was a bit nervous. Probably not the best assessment from us there. Yes we wanted to go out there and get the total quickly to boost the NRR but probably when we were 4 down, we had to calm down a little bit," he concluded.