Virat Kohli slams sixth IPL century, equals Chris Gayle: Stats

The wait is finally over! Virat Kohli has slammed his sixth century in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The star Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter hammered his first IPL ton since April 2019. Notably, Kohli now has the joint-most centuries in the tournament along with Chris Gayle (6). The former was earlier tied with Jos Buttler in this regard.

Although Kohli has been in sublime form in IPL 2023, he was under the scanner for his strike rate in the middle overs. The former RCB skipper has now silenced his detractors with a blistering knock. Besides acing the powerplay overs, Kohli made merry during the middle overs. He raced to his century in the 18th over off 62 balls.

As stated, Kohli has slammed his sixth IPL century, now the joint-most along with Gayle. Interestingly, four of Kohli's century came in the 2016 IPL season wherein he shattered numerous records. His tally of 973 runs is the most by a batter in an IPL season. Kohli slammed seven half-centuries besides four tons in what turned out to be a record-breaking season.

Kohli has smashed his first IPL century since April 2019. He slammed a 58-ball 100 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens Stadium in that season. Kohli has finally ended the wait tonight.

As per Bharath Seervi, this is the first time in IPL history that five Indians have scored centuries in a season (Venkatesh Iyer: 104, Yashasvi Jaiswal: 124, Suryakumar Yadav: 103*, Prabhsimran Singh: 103, and Kohli: 100). Besides, this is also the first instance of players from both sides scoring a century in the match (Heinrich Klaasen: 104).

King Kohli certainly loves playing on May 18. One of his six IPL tons came on this day in 2016. He smashed a 50-ball 113 against Punjab Kings. Interestingly, Kohli had a 140+ opening stand in that match too, with Gayle. Kohli's IPL scores on May 18: 53* vs CSK (2013), 27 vs CSK (2014), 113 vs KXIP (2016), and 100 vs SRH (2023).

Kohli shared a 172-run stand with RCB skipper Faf du Plessis, which helped them chase 187. This is now the second-highest opening partnership for RCB in the tournament. Interestingly, Kohli and du Plessis registered the fourth-highest opening stand in run-chases (IPL). The duo also has the most partnership runs by an opening pair in an IPL season (over 800).