RCB vs RR | Virat Kohli finds his touch again, scores first IPL fifty in nine innings

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli has found his touch again as he scored his first half-century in Indian Premier League in nine innings on Saturday during the IPL 2020 match against Rajasthan Royals at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Kohli has looked to struggle in his last eight IPL innings scoring - 3(11), 1(5), 14(13), 16(9), 25(11), 23(36), 13(20), 9(14). He averaged only 14 and his strike rate was 87.39. The RCB captain does not enjoy a good record against Rajasthan Royals as well. But on Saturday, Kohli had bounced back to form.

Kohli, who had a point to prove after incurring his worst start to an IPL season, was brought to crease in the third over. And early on, he was pitted against Shreyas Gopal who has dismissed him thrice in IPL. But he cautiously tackled the leg spinner and was rather happy to play second fiddle to the young Devdutt Padikkal who raced away to his third IPL fifty in his maiden season.

Soon the skipper found his touch and from there on, there was no looking back. He smashed a six and four off consecutive deliveries against Riyal Parag and then shimmied down the track to tonk the ball over the bowler Rahul Tewatia for his second six as he notched up his 37 IPL fifty. He carried on to smash back-to-back boundaries off Tom Curran in the 18th over and eventually drove RCB to their third win in the season as the franchise took the top spot.

En route, Kohli also became the first IPL batsman to amass 5500 runs in his career.