Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Virat Kohli on Friday (May 22) broke the world record for a men’s batter’s involvement in most 50-plus stands in T20 cricket.
He achieved a 211th such stand with
new opening partner Venkatesh Iyer against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium , going past England batter Alex Hales’ record of 210. Only one other batter has been involved in 200-plus half-century partnerships: David Warner.
IPL 2026 | Schedule | Results | Orange Cap | Purple Cap
This was the first time Venkatesh opened the innings in the IPL since 2023. But he did as if he had never forgotten how good he was, smashing 44 runs off 19 balls with high intent from the first ball.
That allowed Kohli to look for the occasional boundary and not take too many risks, scoring 14 (8) in what was a 60-run stand in 27 balls. He added only a solitary run after Venkatesh got out and lost his wicket to pacer Sakib Hussain, who mistakenly lofted a drive straight to the fielder at covers.
Kohli equalled Hales’ record on Sunday with a 76-run stand with Devdutt Padikkal against the Punjab Kings in New Chandigarh. He has been one of RCB’s most important players this season, scoring 556 runs with a strike rate of 164.98. Though he has not been as consistent as in his prime years, the 37-year-old has been more risk-averse for his team, which has given his team consistently good starts.
SRH score 255/4 in the first innings
RCB needed a quick start against SRH after the hosts scored 255/4 in the first innings. Abhishek Sharma smashed 22-ball 56, and Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen hit half-centuries as well, contributing 79 (46) and 51 (24), respectively. Overall, SRH hit 16 sixes and 20 fours.
RCB’s bowlers struggled dearly. All three bowlers who completed their quotas — Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood and Rasikh Salam Dar — ended up conceding over 50 runs each.
