IPL 2020: Virat Kohli joins MS Dhoni in a T20 record during RCB's 7-wicket win over RR

IPL 2020: Virat Kohli joins MS Dhoni in a T20 record during RCBs 7-wicket win over RR
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Virat Kohli

Highlights

Virat Kohli joined MS Dhoni in a T20 record when Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) took on Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 on Saturday.

Virat Kohli joined MS Dhoni in a T20 record when Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) took on Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 on Saturday.

Kohli became only the second player to hit 200 or more sixes in T20s as captain after his Chennai Super Kings (CSK) counterpart Dhoni. RCB and RR's match was the first fixture of Saturday's double header in Dubai, where Kohli's side were given a target of 178. At 23 for 1, Kohli walked out to bat in the second innings. During Kohli's knock of 32-ball 43, the RCB skipper struck two sixes: off Shreyas Gopal and Rahul Tewati's bowling respectively. With the second six, Kohli achieved the record.

Dhoni is quite ahead in the list, having struck 257 sixes as captain in T20s ahead of Kohli (200), Chris Gayle (181), Kieron Pollard (168), and Darren Sammy (166).

With 331 sixes in 126 matches, Gayle holds the record of most sixes in the IPL. Next on the list are Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) superstar Ab de Villiers (231), CSK's Dhoni (215), Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Rohit Sharma (209), and Kohli (199).

On Saturday, RCB chased down RR's target of 178 with two balls and seven wickets to spare at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Following Aaron Finch's dismissal in the fourth over, Kohli put up 79 runs with Devdutt Padikkal for the second wicket. Padikkal and Kohli scored 35 and 43 runs respectively before the two got out in quick succession.

AB de Villiers was the Player of the Match for his match-winning knock of 22-ball 55. RCB needed 35 off the final two overs. When RR's Jaydev Unadkat came to bowl the 19th over, 'Mr.360' smashed the first three deliveries for three sixes and at the end of the penultimate over, RCB needed 10 more. With five needed off the last three balls of the final over, de Villiers struck a six to clinch a very important win for RCB, who remained in the top four of the IPL 2020 points table.

In the process, the 36-year-old de Villiers became only the second batsman to complete 4,000 runs in the IPL for RCB after Kohli. While the RCB captain has played only for one franchise in the tournament, de Villiers has represented two teams in the T20 league. Out of de Villiers' 4,680 IPL runs, the South African has scored 4,009 runs for RCB, while the rest came during his stint with Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) between 2008 and 2010.

Only three batsmen have scored 5,000 or more runs in the IPL: Kohli, Suresh Raina, and Rohit Sharma, while Dhoni has scored 4,568 runs.

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