Salt, Kohli power RCB to fourth straight away win

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Phil Salt's blistering 65 and Virat Kohli's 62* helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru chase down Rajasthan Royals' 173 with nine wickets and 15 balls to spare. The win, RCB's fourth on the bounce away from home, pushed them back up into the playoffs positions.

PowerPlay: Salt into RR's wounds

Phil Salt led the charge with 46 of the 65 PowerPlay runs, including four sixes and as many fours. He was let off on 40 by Yashasvi Jaiswal, shortly after Riyan Parag put down a high catch that denied Sandeep Sharma a record-equalling eighth dismissal of Virat Kohli in the IPL.

Middle Overs: Kohli scores 100th T20 50

Salt showed no signs of slowing down against spin, even with the field spread. He made room and drilled Wanindu Hasaranga through extra cover to bring up a 28-ball half-century, then followed it up with a six each off Hasaranga and Kumar Kartikeya. His blistering 33-ball 65, featuring six sixes, ended when he holed out to Kartikeya, but not before a 92-run opening stand had all but sealed the game.

Kohli, who had played second fiddle during the assault, shifted gears seamlessly. From 30 off 28, he scored 20 off his next 11 balls, including a pristine straight six stepping down to his former teammate Hasaranga. His third half-century of the season also marked his 100th 50 in T20s, a milestone only David Warner has reached before.

Death Overs: Padikkal helps seal dominant win

Devdutt Padikkal carried on his strong start to the tournament, finishing unbeaten on a brisk 40 off 28 balls as RCB chased down the target with 15 balls to spare.

Brief scores:
Rajasthan Royals 173/5 in 20 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 75, Dhruv Jurel 35*; Krunal Pandya 1-29) lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru 175/1 in 17.3 overs (Phil Salt 65, Virat Kohli 62*, Devdutt Padikkal 40*) by 9 wickets.