Manish Pandey and Virat Kohli (Screengrabs) NEW DELHI: Royal Challengers Bengaluru climbed to the top of the IPL 2026 table with a 6-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in Raipur, but one of the biggest points of the night came from Manish Pandey’s stunning catch.Chasing RCB 193, Tim David tried to cut a delivery from Kartik Tyagi late in the innings. The ball flew quickly towards backward point, it looked like it was going to run away before Pandey dived full to his left and somehow completed a one-handed catch inches off the ground.
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Krunal Pandya opens the match winning game and RCB’s playoff runThe effort shocked almost everyone. Tyagi stood with his hands on his head, Virat Kohli watched in disbelief and even the KKR players looked stunned as they celebrated. Later, Kohli was also seen appreciating Pandey’s efforts as he hugged the fielder.Watch:The replay made the catch look even more unbelievable, Pandey reacted immediately and caught the ball cleanly with his weaker hand.Despite Pandey’s brilliance in the field, the night belonged to Virat Kohli, who smashed an unbeaten 105 off 60 balls to steer RCB home with five balls to spare. Entering the match after back-to-back ducks, Kohli bounced back strongly with 11 fours and three sixes while becoming the fastest batsman to reach 14,000 T20 runs.“I just love batting,” Kohli said. “What an honor to play at this level. It’s all I’ve done my whole life. I want to make the most of every day.”Speaking about handling pressure, he added: “There’s a reason people say pressure is a privilege. Good pressure always makes you improve your game.”Earlier, KKR posted 192/4 thanks to Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s 71 and a late flourish from Rinku Singh. However, the defeat hurt Kolkata’s already slim playoff hopes.Also stay in the loop with the IPL Orange Cap.
