IPL 2021: Records smashed as Devdutt Padikkal's glorious century puts RCB on top against RR

This was Royal Challengers Bangalore's fourth win of the 2021 Indian Premier League, as it stays atop the points table. Meanwhile, Rajashtan Royals suffered its third defeat, while along with a win, it has dropped to the bottom. RCB is still in the hunt for its maiden IPL title.

It was an absolute carnage by Royal Challengers Bangalore, as the openers, Virat Kohli (72*) and Devdutt Padikkal (101*), produced a dominant show to outplay Rajasthan Royals by ten wickets in Match 16 of the 2021 Indian Premier League at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. While RCB stays unbeaten in IPL 2021 so far and atop the table, RR has dropped to the bottom. Meanwhile, certain records were smashed in the process as we take a look.

Padikkal steals the show
- It was mainly about Padikkal, who slammed a 52-ball 101. As a result for the same:
He is the third Indian uncapped player to score an IPL century after Manish Pandey (2009) and Paul Valthaty (2011).
- He is the third-youngest player to slam an IPL century (20 years and 289 days) after Rishabh Pant (20 years and 218 days) and Manish Pandey (19 years and 253 days).

RCB scripts big
- It was an emphatic ten-wicket win for RCB, and that too in just 16.4 overs. Consequently:
- It was the third-best win in the IPL by ten wickets after Watson-Du Plessis's 179 for Chennai Super Kings (vs Punjab Kings, 2020) and Gambhir-Lynn's 184 for Kolkata Knight Riders (vs Gujarat Lions, 2017).
- It was RCB's highest opening partnership, bettering Gayle-Dilshan's 167 vs Pune Warriors India (2013).
- It was RCB's best powerplay score (59/0) this season.
RCB has the most centurions in the IPL (14), bettering Punjab Kings (13).

Kohli was unstoppable
Kohli, too, impressed fans with his emphatic knock of an unbeaten 72. He scored his 6,000th IPL runs in the process, thus becoming the first batsman to do so. He is also the only player to be a part of each IPL side's first four highest partnerships.

Match summary
Winning the toss, RCB skipper Kohli elected to bowl first. Although RR was off to a nervous start, it made a speedy recovery, thanks to Shivam Dube and Rahul Tewatia. However, the RCB openers, in the form of Kohli and Padikkal, were just too good to handle for the RR bowlers.
Brief scores: RR 177/9 (Dube- 46, Tewatia- 40; Siraj- 3/27, Harshal- 3/47) lost to RCB 181/0 (Kohli- 72*, Padikkal- 101*; Parag- 0/14) by ten wickets.