Dharamsala | Royal Challengers Bengaluru rode on fluent half-centuries from Virat Kohli and Venkatesh Iyer to post a competitive 222 for 4 against Punjab Kings in their Indian Premier League clash here on Sunday.
Kohli (58 off 37 balls) struck four boundaries and three sixes and stitched a 76-run partnership with Devdutt Padikkal (45) for the second wicket to lay the platform for RCB.
He then combined with Iyer (73 not out off 40 balls) in a 60-run third-wicket stand as table-toppers RCB delivered yet another authoritative batting display.
The left-handed Iyer turned particularly aggressive after Kohli's departure, blazing eight fours and four maximums as his explosive strike rate made crossing the 200-run mark look remarkably easy.
Jitesh Sharma is leading RCB in this game in the absence of Rajat Patidar.
Brief Scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 222 for 4 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 58, Devdutt Padikkal 45, Venkatesh Iyer 73 not out; Harpreet Brar 2/35).
Dharamsala, May 17 (PTI) Scoreboard of the Indian Premier League match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings here on Sunday.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru:
Jacob Bethell b Harpreet Brar 11
Virat Kohli c Arya b Chahal 58
Devdutt Padikkal c Iyer b Harpreet Brar 45
Venkatesh Iyer not out 73
Tim David c Harpreet Brar b Arshdeep Singh 28
Extras: (B-1, NB-1, W-5) 7
Total: (For 4 wkts, 20 overs) 222
Fall of wkts: 1-21, 2-97, 3-157, 4-222.
Bowling: Arshdeep Singh 4-0-43-1, Azmatullah Omarzai 4-0-38-0, Harpreet Brar 4-0-35-2, Lockie Ferguson 3-0-43-0, Yuzvendra Chahal 3-0-42-1, Shashank Singh 2-0-20-0. (More)