Virat Kohli ton powers RCB to 183/3 against RR in IPL
Jaipur, Apr 6: Virat Kohli enhanced his status as a lone ranger by notching up a record-extending eighth IPL century but Royal Challengers could only manage just about par-score of 183 for 3 against Rajasthan Royals here on Saturday.
Kohli showed superb improvisation, from his wrist-rolled pulls, powerful swat flicks to steer through third man as he remained unbeaten on 113 off 72 balls and has now scored 38 percent of RCB's total runs so far.
Kohli smashed 12 fours and four sixes and barring the assistance received from his skipper Faf Du Plessis (44 from 33 balls; 2x4, 2x6), he did not get any support from the other batters.
After reaching his fifty in 39 balls, Kohli stepped up well and took just 28 balls for his next fifty as he reached the milestone with a single off Nandre Burger in the penultimate over.
Glenn Maxwell (1) and debutant left-hander Saurav Chauhan (9), who failed to replicate his Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 form, fell cheaply.
Credit should go to RR spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin (0/28) and Yuzvendra Chahal (2/34) who stifled the proceedings in the middle overs.
Chahal was exceptional as he cleverly deceived the batters with his pace and variations by bowling googlies and sliders to fox the RCB batters.
Put in, RCB had their best ever start in this IPL when Kohli and Du Plessis saw through the power play for the first time this season in a 125-run opening partnership.
The duo put on a steady 53-run inside the power play, thanks to a brilliant over by Ashwin who conceded just three runs in the fifth over to pull them back.
Their pace spearhead Trent Boult bowled short and Kohli pulled them to get into the zone, while Nandre Burger was wayward and leaked 26 runs from his two overs inside the power play.
Thanks to Ashwin's over, RR had RCB in check even as the visitors had all their wickets intact.
Chahal further tightened the noose by brilliantly stifling Kohli in the eight over where he conceded just four runs.
But Du Plessis broke the shackles smashing Boult for two sixes in the ninth over, while Kohli also got it going against his former RCB teammate, smashing Chahal for six.
Sanju Samson took a gamble to bring in Riyan Parag against the set opening duo in the 11th over.
The part-time spinner, who bowls with a sling action even troubled the duo before being smashed by Kohli into the stands to bring up his third fifty this season. It came off 39 balls.
Riyan had a chance to break the partnership but he dropped a tough return catch from Du Plessis on 36.
Chahal finally broke the opening stand in an eventful 14th over, dismissing Du Plessis.
In the same over, Kohli was dropped on 66, a tough chance by Burger at point, and then Boult grassed a sitter from the South African at extra cover.
However in the next ball, Buttler made no mistake when Du Plessis went in for charge once again to be holed out at long-on.
He may have failed to impress with the new ball, but Burger came back strongly in the middle overs and beat Maxwell by angle and pace to clean up the Aussie dangerman for a three-ball one.
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Astronaut Sunita Williams to participate in Kerala Literature Festival 2026
New Delhi (PTI): Former NASA astronaut Sunita Williams is set to participate at the ninth edition of Kerala Literature Festival (KLF), starting January 22, announced organisers on Tuesday.
Williams, 60, who has spent over 300 days in space, is expected to reflect on her journeys beyond earth and speak about science, exploration, leadership, resilience, and the enduring power of human curiosity.
“The Kerala Literature Festival has always believed in expanding the idea of the fest to include science, discovery, leadership, and the human spirit. Sunita Williams represents the courage to explore the unknown and the discipline required to stretch human boundaries.
"She has also been a well-wisher of DC Books and KLF, which makes her presence at the festival especially meaningful. Her participation will inspire audiences across generations," said Ravi DeeCee, Managing Director of DC Books and chief facilitator at KLF.
On her third mission to the International Space Station in June last year along with Butch Wilmore, which lasted for 286 days, Williams created history by setting a record of most time spent spacewalking by a woman.
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She was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1998 and she underwent training at the Johnson Space Center. She also worked in Moscow with the Russian Space Agency on the Russian contribution to the International Space Station.
KLF 2026 will host over 500 speakers from across the world and will feature Germany as the guest nation for this year’s edition.
The festival’s speaker line-up include Nobel Laureates Abdulrazak Gurnah, Olga Tokarczuk and Abhijit Banerjee, Booker Prize-winning writer-activist Banu Mushtaq, Olympian Ben Johnson, former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, artist Cheyenne Olivier, economist Arvind Subramanian as well as noted writers Gabriela Ybarra, Peggy Mohan, Shobhaa De and Amish Tripathi.
