Virat Kohli leads Royal Challengers Bengaluru to second straight IPL title

Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 75 and inspired bowling led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to their second straight Indian Premier League title with a five-wicket win over Gujarat Titans on Sunday.

Bengaluru restricted Gujarat to 155 for eight, a total they chased down with 12 balls to spare after Kohli reached his fifth half-century of the season in a lopsided final in Ahmedabad.

Kohli sealed victory with a six to cap a magnificent 42-ball innings featuring nine fours and three sixes, then pointed to the stands as Bengaluru players sprinted out to celebrate.

Bengaluru, led by Rajat Patidar, and Kohli have been on a roll since they won their first IPL crown at the 18th attempt last year. They finished top of the 10-team table after this season’s league stage.

“Stuff you dream of. Thought of this moment many times, wanting to hit the winning run,” said the 37-year-old Kohli, who was named player of the match.

“Felt really relaxed coming in. The team we have gives confidence to see any kind of situation through. Knew exactly what to do in the chase. Such is the demand [with] super, young players pushing you to up the ante.”

Kohli added: “We knew what kind of ability we have in the group. And we just said one thing: ’If we stick to our cricket, if we execute our plans, we are the best team in the competition.’”

Kohli’s No 18 jersey dominated the stands at the Narendra Modi Stadium, the world’s biggest cricket ground, which recorded an official attendance of over 90,000 spectators on Sunday.

Kohli and fellow opener Venkatesh Iyer, who hit 32 off 16 balls, got Bengaluru off to a flying start in a 62-run partnership. Mohammed Siraj broke the stand as he dismissed Iyer and Kagiso Rabada removed Devdutt Padikkal from the other end.

Rashid Khan struck twice in one over to send back Patidar for 15 and Krunal Pandya to raise Gujarat’s hopes. But Tim David and Kohli put on 41 runs to steady the chase. David fell for 24 but Kohli saw the team through with Jitesh Sharma for company.

Patidar joined an elite group of IPL captains to win back-to-back titles. MS Dhoni achieved the feat with Chennai Super Kings in 2010 and 2011, while Rohit Sharma led Mumbai Indians to glory in 2019 and 2020.

Bengaluru’s quicks set up the victory as Rasikh Salam stood out with three for 27 in a disciplined attack alongside Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who both took two wickets.

The trio justified the decision to put Gujarat in to bat, striking early and regularly. Only Washington Sundar offered much resistance as he scored a defiant 50 not out.

Hazlewood landed the first blow as he dismissed Shubman Gill for 10 with Bengaluru’s captain, Rajat Patidar, taking a fine running catch. Kumar dislodged the other opener, Sai Sudharsan, for 12 in the next over.

Gill and Sudharsan were in the race for the Orange Cap awarded to the top scorer in the IPL season, but Rajasthan Royals’ 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi ended top of the list with 776 runs.

Gill (732) and Sudharsan (722) finished second and third. Kohli was fourth with 675 runs, including one century.

Nishant Sindhu, who made 20, and Jos Buttler attempted to steady the Gujarat innings but struggled against a miserly attack and soon Salam removed Sindhu. Krunal Pandya had Buttler stumped for 19 with his left-arm spin and Gujarat slumped to 73 for four in 12.1 overs.

“We have apex predators but couldn’t get going in the powerplay,” said Gujarat’s batting coach, Matthew Hayden. “I thought it was an incredible bowling performance by RCB.”

Wickets continued to fall but Sundar stood firm to reach his fifty in the 20th over. The effort was not enough as Gujarat finished runners-up for the second time in three finals. Their only triumph came in their debut season in 2022.