Virat Kohli hit an unbeaten 73 as Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Punjab Kings by seven wickets to move up to third in the Indian Premier League.
Chasing 158, Kohli put on a 103-run second wicket partnership with Devdutt Padikkal (68 from 49) to put his side firmly in command.
Padikkal holed out to long-on off Harpreet Brar, but Kohli pushed on, reaching his fourth half-century of the season before Jitesh Sharma ended the match with a six in the penultimate over.
Kings posted 157-6 from their 20 overs, steadily losing top-order wickets with no batter scoring more than opener Prabhsimran Singh’s 33.
RCB may have hoped to bowl their opponents out after they slipped to 114-6 in the 14th over, with Suyash Sharma breaking the stumps of Australians Josh Inglis (29) and Marcus Stoinis (1) in the space of three balls.
Shashank Singh (31 from 33) and Marco Jansen (25 from 22) ensured the innings didn’t end prematurely, but the pair struck just 43 from the last six overs, with only two sixes, as the visitors handled the death overs impressively.
RCB lost England opener Phil Salt for one in the first over of their reply, but Kohli’s 54-ball innings anchored a straightforward chase, with his side avenging Friday’s defeat to Kings.
The win sees them leapfrog Kings to take third place on net run-rate, having won five and lost three of their matches.
Their opponents drop one place to fourth, with the sides sitting first to fifth now all on 10 points.
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