His 29-ball fifty against Mumbai Indians was his quickest in seven years
Dustin Silgardo07-Apr-2025In 30 balls vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 2nd innings, Kolkata, 2025
In the IPL 2025 season opener, RCB were chasing 175 at Eden Gardens. Kohli watched his new opening partner, Phil Salt, race to 44 off 19 before joining in on the fun, hitting Spencer Johnson for consecutive sixes back over his head. He spent a lot of the innings watching from the other end but was aggressive whenever on strike. He hammered two slog-sweeps off Varun Chakravarthy and brought up his fifty in the 13th over, with a lofted shot over the covers off Harshit Rana. He remained unbeaten as RCB finished the chase within 17 overs.Related
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In 29 balls vs Mumbai Indians, 1st innings, Mumbai, 2025
Kohli started off strongly, hitting three of the first nine balls he faced for boundaries. He then made a statement when he hit a returning Jasprit Bumrah’s second ball for a six over midwicket. In the next over, he hit Will Jacks for two boundaries to get to 35 off 18. His next 15 runs took 11 balls, but it was still his fastest fifty in the IPL since 2018. He got to the half-century with a big hit over long-on off wristspinner Vignesh Puthur.Virat Kohli celebrates his 113 against Kings XI Punjab in 2016•BCCIIn 28 balls vs Kings XI Punjab, 1st innings, Bengaluru, 2016
In one of his most famous IPL knocks, Kohli, batting with nine stitches on his left hand, slapped his first ball from Sandeep Sharma for a four through the covers. There were powerful shots off the spinners, a cheeky reverse-paddle and more thumping hits through the covers off the seamers as Kohli raced to his fifty in the ninth over. From there, he accelerated further to set up a total of 211 in the 15-overs-a-side contest. RCB eventually won by 82 runs.In 28 balls vs Chennai Super Kings, 1st innings, Bengaluru, 2013
RCB’s must-win game against CSK at the end of the 2013 league phase was reduced to eight overs a side because of rain. Kohli took down R Ashwin and Chris Morris early to give his team the start they needed before smacking Dwayne Bravo for 16 in the final over. RCB’s 106 was enough to win the game, but Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) ended up taking the final playoff spot with a win in their last game.Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers scored fifties in the 2018 match against Delhi Daredevils•BCCIIn 26 balls vs Delhi Daredevils, 2nd innings, Delhi, 2018
In an important game for playoffs qualification, RCB were 18 for 2 in their chase of 182 when Kohli laid into South African seamer Junior Dala in the fourth over. A pull, a wristy flick for six, and a drive through the covers got Kohli on his way, and along with AB de Villiers, he made the chase look comfortable from then on.In 26 balls vs Rajasthan Royals, 2nd innings, Bengaluru, 2018
A couple of smacks through and over the covers set Kohli on the way to his fastest IPL fifty in a chase. He hit Ben Stokes for a couple of boundaries and went hard against the spinners before pulling Shreyas Gopal to deep midwicket in the 11th over. RCB ended up falling 19 runs short.
