Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers completely massacred the Gujarat Lions’ bowling attack at Bengaluru on Saturday. The Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper and the South African scored 109 runs off 55 balls and 129 off 52 balls respectively to hand their team a 144-run victory.
They thrashed 20 sixes and 15 fours between them and strung a spectacular partnership of 229 runs.
On their way to the highest partnership in the history of the IPL, they set many records.
The Quint takes a look at the five records set by the duo.
1. Highest Partnership of the IPL
Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers 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.
Then, De Villiers had smashed 133* off 59 balls and Kohli scored 82* off 50 balls against Mumbai Indians which helped Bangalore to win by 39 runs.
2. Second Most Sixes in an IPL Innings
De Villiers and Kohli missed the record of the most sixes in an innings by a team by one six. The most sixes (21) struck in an innings by a team in the history of the IPL is held by none other than the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The record was set when Chris Gayle smacked 175 off 66 against Pune Warriors in IPL 2013. Gayle hit 17 sixes, Kohli and De Villiers contributed with four sixes.
3. Second Highest Total in IPL
Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers’ heroics helped the Royal Challengers Bangalore to set the second highest total (248/3) in the history of the IPL.
Now, the Royal Challengers Bangalore have taken the first two spots in the list of the highest totals in IPL.
Chris Gayle’s 175 against Pune Warriors helped Bangalore set a total of 263/5.
4. Two Centuries Scored in an Innings For the First Time
Two centuries were scored in an innings for the first time in IPL. The closest the duo got to the feat was in the match against Mumbai Indians in 2015 when they set the then highest partnership (215 runs) of the IPL.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore had scored 235/1 in their 20 overs.
5. First Player to Score Three Hundreds in a Season
Virat 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.
Virat scored his third IPL hundred in 55 balls, making it his fastest. The Bangalore skipper moved from the score of 50 to 103 in just 15 balls.
Kohli broke Chris Gayle’s record of scoring two hundreds in a season of the IPL. The West Indian achieved the feat in 2011, when he smashed 102* (55 balls) against Kolkata Knight Riders and 107 (49 balls) against Kings XI Punjab.
(Statistics by Arun Gopalakrishnan)
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