{"id":5153,"date":"2026-04-25T08:53:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T08:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohlis-81-off-44-fires-rcb-past-gt-sundar-urged-to-lift-his-levels"},"modified":"2026-04-25T08:53:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T08:53:10","slug":"kohlis-81-off-44-fires-rcb-past-gt-sundar-urged-to-lift-his-levels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohlis-81-off-44-fires-rcb-past-gt-sundar-urged-to-lift-his-levels","title":{"rendered":"Kohli\u2019s 81 off 44 fires RCB past GT; Sundar urged to lift his \u201clevels"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virat Kohli again proved why he\u2019s regarded as one of the most dependable finishers in the IPL, as Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Gujarat Titans at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday. Chasing a target of 206, Kohli played a match-winning innings of 81 off 44 balls to guide RCB home with five wickets and seven balls to spare. Still, the Titans would argue the contest swung early\u2014an awkward missed chance in the opening over helped Kohli stay in the game.<\/p>\n

How the chase unfolded<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Kohli\u2019s innings got RCB\u2019s chase moving after Bengaluru chased down 206 successfully.<\/li>\n
  2. He struck 81 runs off 44 deliveries, finding the boundary 8 times with fours and clearing the ropes 4 times with sixes.<\/li>\n
  3. RCB ultimately reached the winning mark with five wickets in hand and seven balls remaining.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The key talking point came in the very first over of the contest. Gujarat Titans had an opportunity to dismiss Kohli for a duck, but Washington Sundar failed to hold a chance off Mohammed Siraj. The drop was caught in the moment\u2014Siraj sent down a good-length ball that landed on the pads, and Kohli flicked it straight towards Sundar at mid-wicket. However, the ball just slipped away, and Sundar\u2019s difficulty at that stage allowed Kohli to go on and build his innings into a commanding one.<\/p>\n

    Former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop felt the incident was unfortunate but also underlined that catch-dropping happens to everyone. He nevertheless urged Sundar to raise his standards in the field, noting that repeated lapses can cost teams in a tournament where pressure moments decide matches.<\/p>\n

    \u201cNo, I see that differently. We have all dropped catches. You don\u2019t pick and choose which ones you drop. But what I would ask Washy is that your level of fielding has got to go up. He\u2019s a young guy, athletic enough,\u201d Bishop said on ESPNcricinfo\u2019s TimeOut.<\/p>\n

    He added that the missed chance wasn\u2019t an isolated concern and encouraged Sundar to invest more work on his catching and overall fielding contributions. \u201cFor too long, I have been seeing missed opportunities with him. So I would ask him to put a little more work in that so he becomes an asset in the field in addition to all the other things,\u201d Bishop further remarked.<\/p>\n

    Dale Steyn also backed Bishop\u2019s stance, agreeing that a batter of Kohli\u2019s calibre cannot be let off the hook\u2014especially when the chance is straightforward. The former South Africa speedster stressed that the dismissal should have been taken regardless of who was at the other end.<\/p>\n

    \u201cCan\u2019t drop Kohli. The guy who\u2019s gonna be one of the best chasers in the world. That catch, actually, doesn\u2019t matter who it is; you just can\u2019t drop that. That\u2019s ten out of ten times, you should be taking that,\u201d Steyn said.<\/p>\n

    After Kohli\u2019s near-miss early on turned into a decisive innings, RCB made the Titans pay for the early mistake. With the win, Bengaluru moved up to the second spot in the standings, while Gujarat Titans\u2014led by Shubman Gill\u2014remained in seventh place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Virat Kohli again proved why he\u2019s regarded as one of the most dependable finishers in the IPL, as Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Gujarat Titans at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"IPL News: Kohli 81(44) powers RCB vs GT win","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Virat Kohli\u2019s 81 off 44 sparks RCB\u2019s thrilling chase vs GT at Chinnaswamy\u2014five-wicket win as the Titans falter in key moments.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\nIPL News: Kohli 81(44) powers RCB vs GT win<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Virat Kohli\u2019s 81 off 44 sparks RCB\u2019s thrilling chase vs GT at Chinnaswamy\u2014five-wicket win as the Titans falter in key moments.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohlis-81-off-44-fires-rcb-past-gt-sundar-urged-to-lift-his-levels\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IPL News: Kohli 81(44) powers RCB vs GT win\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Virat Kohli\u2019s 81 off 44 sparks RCB\u2019s thrilling chase vs GT at Chinnaswamy\u2014five-wicket win as the Titans falter in key moments.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/kohlis-81-off-44-fires-rcb-past-gt-sundar-urged-to-lift-his-levels\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"1Win India\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-25T08:53:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/washington-sundar-told-improve-levels-6a42.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"519\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"294\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Arjun Patel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Arjun Patel\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/kohlis-81-off-44-fires-rcb-past-gt-sundar-urged-to-lift-his-levels#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/kohlis-81-off-44-fires-rcb-past-gt-sundar-urged-to-lift-his-levels\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Arjun Patel\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/1win.za.com\\\/ipl\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9aac810730409fd3131f08f34023f33e\"},\"headline\":\"Kohli\u2019s 81 off 44 fires RCB past GT; 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