‘Chase Master’ Virat Kohli writes IPL history, first to chase 4,000 runs

New Delhi: Virat Kohli creates history intense pulsed light Became the first player to score over 4,000 runs while chasing the target on Saturday. He reached this milestone in the opening match of IPL 2026 between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad. On top of that, Kohli also passed Shoaib Malik Became the sixth highest run scorer in T20 cricket.

Hyderabad’s counterattack

Sunrisers Hyderabad got off to a poor start, losing early wickets from Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Nitish Reddy in the powerplay. But things turned around thanks to Ishan Kishan, who scored 80 runs off just 38 balls as stand-in captain. He was well supported by Ankiet Verma who shot a quick 43.Their efforts helped Hyderabad achieve a strong total of 201/9. For Bengaluru, bowlers like Jacob Duffy Romario Shepherd Each took three wickets to control the situation to an extent.

Virat Kohli leads Bengaluru’s chase

Chasing 202, Bengaluru showed aggression. Star batsman Virat Kohli anchored the innings with an unbeaten 69 off 38 balls. He was well supported by Devdutt Padikkal, who smashed 61 off just 26 balls, while skipper Rajat Patidar scored a quick 31 balls.With this explosive knock, Bengaluru completed the chase in just 15.4 overs, becoming the fastest successful chase of 200-overs in the history of IPL. They sealed the match by four wickets to start their title defense in style, with Kohli stealing the show with his historic achievement.