Virat Kohli has nudged his way to the top of the 2026 IPL run-scorers’ list again, his 81 from 44 balls setting up Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s five-wicket win over Gujarat Titans on Friday night. The innings – brisk rather than blistering – lifted him to 328 runs in seven knocks, five clear of Sunrisers Hyderabad opener Abhishek Sharma.
“It’s what he does,” Dale Steyn reminded the TV crew afterwards. “Kohli is the best chaser to have played the game.” Ian Bishop simply shook his head in admiration, pointing to the numbers on the monitor.
The bare tables first.
Orange Cap, top five (after Match 33)
1. Virat Kohli (RCB) 328
2. Abhishek Sharma (SRH) 323
3. Heinrich Klaasen (SRH) 320
4. Shubman Gill (GT) 297
5. Sanju Samson (CSK) 290
Gill’s 32 from 24 kept Titans afloat early on, but in truth it was B Sai Sudharsan’s 100 off 58 that gave them 205 for eight – the left-hander’s maiden IPL hundred and the tournament’s fifth this season. Sudharsan now sits tenth overall, a useful marker for a player still learning his trade at this level.
Rajat Patidar, captaining RCB, managed only eight – a second quiet outing in a row – yet his aggregate of 238 keeps him knotted with Ishan Kishan; strike-rate maths leaves Patidar eighth and Kishan ninth for the moment.
Purple Cap, leading wicket-takers
1. Anshul Kamboj (CSK) 14
2. Prince Yadav (LSG) 13
3.= Prasidh Krishna (GT) 12
3.= Eshan Malinga (SRH) 12
5.= Jofra Archer (RR) 11
5.= Ravi Bishnoi (RR) 11
5.= Bhuvneshwar Kumar (SRH) 11
Only eight wickets fell in the game, so the bowling chart barely budged. Prasidh Krishna went wicketless for the Titans and stays on 12. Bhuvneshwar, operating up front for RCB, removed Jos Buttler with the new ball – one of those classic outswingers that nibble just enough – to join Archer and Bishnoi on 11.
A couple of useful context points. Strike rate remains the tiebreaker for batsmen, while economy rate does the same job for bowlers, hence the occasional hopscotch in the placings after every match. And for newer viewers: the Orange Cap is worn by the tournament’s current leading run-scorer, the Purple by its leading wicket-taker – simple, slightly showy symbols that the players still seem to enjoy.
Back to Kohli. He left the field in the 14th over, caught at long-off, visibly annoyed not to finish the chase himself. Yet two overs later RCB were home, the points banked and the familiar orange headgear perched above that familiar beard. “The job’s only half done,” he muttered on his way to the presentation, but the grin suggested he rather likes how the table looks right now.
Plenty of cricket to come, of course – and the leaderboards will shuffle again – but on a cool night in Bengaluru the old routine held: chase, anchor, finish (well, almost) and climb back to the summit.
