Kohli gets Bengaluru to a winning start in IPL title defense

Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Bengaluru, India. (AP)

BENGALURU, India, March 29 (AP): Star batter Virat Kohli hit 69 not out off 38 balls, including five sixes and five fours, as defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets in the Indian Premier League season-opener.

Devdutt Padikkal smashed a 26-ball 61, with four sixes and seven fours, as Bengaluru raced to 203-4 in 15.4 overs with 26 deliveries to spare.

Earlier, New Zealand pacer Jacob Duffy picked up 3-22 in four overs on his IPL debut as Hyderabad finished with 201-9 in 20 overs. Stand-in skipper Ishan Kishan hit 80 off 38 balls, including five sixes, with Aniket Verma adding an 18-ball 43.

Chasing a par score at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru lost Phil Salt cheaply - out caught for eight.

But impact substitute Padikkal lived up to his role as he raced to 50 off 21 balls. He put on 101 runs off 45 deliveries with Kohli as Bengaluru set a hectic pace in its chase - 76-1 in powerplay and 100 off just 8.1 overs.

Padikkal was caught in the 9th over, but skipper Rajat Patidar didn’t let the momentum slip. He smashed 31 off 12 balls and put on 53 off 22 with Kohli for the third wicket.

Sunrisers’ impact player David Payne struck twice in the 13th over - Patidar and Jitesh Sharma (0) were caught off consecutive deliveries.

But Kohli paced the chase well, and Bengaluru was never in serious trouble.

Kohli brought up his 64th IPL half-century off 33 balls to the delight of a packed home ground and then raced to the finish, hitting 18 off Harshal Patel’s four deliveries in the 16th over.

Tim David hit 16 not out off 10 balls, sharing a 40-run unbeaten stand with Kohli off 19 balls.

Put into bat, Hyderabad’s top order struggled against Duffy’s disciplined bowling. Big-hitting openers Abhishek Sharma (7) and Travis Head (11) fell cheaply, while Nitish Reddy was out caught for 1.

Hyderabad was 29-3 in 4.2 overs, when Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen came to the rescue with 97 off 53 for the fourth wicket.

Kishan continued his T20 World Cup form to rescue his side, hitting five sixes and eight fours in his 27-ball 50.