On This Day: Rampaging Kohli-AB sets Chinnaswamy on fire

Kohli and ABD shared a partnership of 229 runs.

XtraTime Web Desk: A rampaging Royal Challengers Bangalore duo of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers wrecked havoc against the Gujarat Lions bowlers to stitch a record partnership of 229 runs from just 96 balls at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on this day in IPL 2016. Both Kohli and De Villiers ended up scoring hundreds. RCB captain scored 109 off 55 balls studded with five boundaries and 8 sixes. AB de Villiers was even more brutal, scoring 129 runs off just 52 balls. The Proteas batsman showed why he was called Mr.360 in world cricket as he hit 10 fours and 12 towering sixes.


It was the 44th clash of IPL 2016 with the hosts RCB needed to win by a huge margin to stand a chance to be in the reckoning for the top four finishes. The Lions were without their regular captain Suresh Raina who had to fly to Netherlands to be by the side of his wife who was expecting a baby.
Brendon McCullum won the toss and put RCB in to bat first. Kohli walked out to open the batting with Chris Gayle. The Jamaican looked off colour as he was cleaned up by Dhawal Kulkarni for just 6 runs. With the score at 19/1 after the end of 4 overs, AB de Villiers walked in to join his captain at the crease.

De Villiers first scoring shot was a six off the second ball he faced from Shivil Kaushik, indicating what was to follow. It was an absolute carnage from Kohli and AB in the next one and half hour as they made a mockery of the Gujarat Lions bowling attack.


Records tumbled like nine pins as Kohli and AB recorded the highest partnership (229 runs) in the history of the IPL. They beat their own record of 215 runs which was set in the last season of the IPL.


It was also the first time in IPL history when two batsmen scored centuries from the same side. Both AB and Kohli achieved against Mumbai Indians in 2015 when they set the then highest partnership (215 runs).

On the personal front, Kohli became the first player to score three hundreds in a single season of the IPL. He has scored 100* (63 balls) against Gujarat Lions and 108* (58 balls) against Rising Pune Supergiants, earlier in the tournament. Kohli broke Chris Gayle’s record of scoring two hundreds in IPL 2011. The Jamaican smashed 102* (55 balls) against Kolkata Knight Riders and 107 (49 balls) against Kings XI Punjab.


Gujarat Lions, as expected, were never really in the hunt at any point during their run chase as they were blown away for a paltry 104, with only three batsmen managing double digits. RCB registered onf the biggest ever win in the history of IPL,winning the match by a whopping margin of 144 runs. This victory also enabled RCB to increase their NRR to a great extent, that enabled them to finish in the top two, eventually.