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Gayle power fashions RCB win

Jamaican smashes 56-ball 96 as Kohli's men beat KKR by three wickets
Last Updated 11 April 2015, 19:36 IST
Chris Gayle conjured another masterpiece as he single-handedly powered Royal Challengers Bangalore to a thrilling three-wicket win over champions Kolkata Knight Riders here on Saturday.

Running out of partners in a high-scoring chase, the big West Indian took it all upon himself, clobbering a brilliant 56-ball 96 (7x4, 7x6) at a packed Eden Gardens as Royal Challengers chased down KKR’s imposing 177 with three wickets and an over to spare.

le to power his side home and the Jamaican didn’t disappoint one bit. When he did depart with 10 balls left, thanks to extraordinary piece of fielding from Manish Pandey, he had all but sealed a fine win for RCB, who thus halted KKR’s 10-match winning streak.

The win, however, looked distant when they appeared in plenty of trouble at the half-way stage. While Kohli managed just 13 runs, De Villiers looked good for a big one when he tore apart IPL debutante –  spinner KC Cariappa. After smashing a four and huge six, the South African stepped down the track in the final ball of the 11th over. Carted for 28 runs off 11 balls till then, Cariappa, however, had the last laugh, getting the South African stumped for 28 (13b, 3x4, 2x6).

Earlier, skipper Gambhir led from the front with his second successive half-century at the top while Andre Russell applied finishing touches with a blistering cameo as Knight Riders posted a stiff target. Gambhir, who endured a horror start last season with three straight ducks, was all class as he partnered brilliantly with Robin Uthappa to give the team a steady start. The duo, who rarely went for anything extravagant in the opening six overs, kept the scoreboard ticking at a fast pace, bringing up the fifty in just 5.2 overs.

Matching each other stroke for stroke -- both Uthappa and Gambhir were batting on 25 each with the scoreboard reading 51 -- they easily tackled RCB’s pace attack which appeared barely threatening. Playing some beautiful shots with Uthappa looking in great touch through the covers and Gambhir solid off his legs, they mixed caution with aggression, opting to take risks only after they had set a strong foundation.

Gambhir then presented RCB a chance while on 31 but De Villiers, one of the best fielders in the world, dropped a straight forward chance at deep midwicket. Gambhir then went on to complete his 25th IPL half-century while KKR raced to 100 with a little over seven overs left.

Looking good for a big one with some big hitters to follow, KKR suffered a double blow in the 17th over when they lost Suryakumar Yadav and Manish off successive balls.  But Russell made sure things would get tough for RCB, blasting an unbeaten 17-ball 41. Moving across the stumps every now and then, he upset the bowlers, smacking two sixes and four boundaries. That gave, KKR the momentum towards the end of the innings but that was just not enough as Gayle’s fireworks proved far too much for the hosts.

score board

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS: Robin Uthappa c Sammy b Abu Nechim 35 (28b, 4x4), Gautam Gambhir c Mandeep b Chahal 58 (46b, 7x4, 1x6), Manish Pandey (run out) 23 (15b, 4x4), Suryakumar Yadav c Mandeep b Harshal 11 (9b, 2x4), Yusuf Pathan c Kohli b Aaron 3 (4b), Andre Russell (not out) 37 (16b, 5x4, 2x6), Shakib al Hasan (run out) 0 (1b), Piyush Chawla (not out) 0. Extras (W-3, B-1, LB-2). Total (for 6 wkts, 20 overs) 177.

Fall of wickets: 1-81 (Uthappa), 2-103 (Gambhir), 3-131 (Suryakumar), 4-131 (Pandey) , 5-163 (Yusuf), 6-173 (Shakib).

Bowling: Sean Abbott 3-0-36-0, Harshal Patel 4-0-37-1 (w-1), Varun Aaron 4-0-38-1 (w-2), Abu Nechim 4-0-28-1, Darren Sammy 1-0-7-0, Yuzvendra Chahal 4-0-28-1.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE: Chris Gayle (run out) 96 (56b, 7x4, 7x6), Virat Kohli 13 (15b, 1x6), Dinesh Karthik b Yusuf 6 (8b, 1x4), Mandeep Singh b Yusuf 6 (3b, 1x6), AB de Villiers st Uthappa b Cariappa 28 (13b, 3x4, 2x6), Darren Sammy st Uthappa b Shakib 7 (9b), Sean Abbott (run out) 1 (4b), Harshal Patel (not out) 9 (4b, 1x6), Abu Nechim (not out) 5 (2b, 1x4). Extras (W-1, LB-7). Total (for 7 wkts, 19 overs) 179.

Fall of wickets: 1-29 (Kohli), 2-50 (Karthik), 3-56 (Mandeep), 4-93 (de Villiers), 5-119 (Sammy), 6-133 (Abbott), 7-171 (Gayle).

Bowling: Morne Morkel 4-0-35-1, Sunil Narine 4-0-26-0, KC Cariappa 2-0-28-1, Andre Russell 2-0-16-0, Yusuf Pathan 4-0-40-2, Piyush Chawla 1-0-10-0, Shakib al Hasan 2-0-17-1.

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(Published 11 April 2015, 19:35 IST)

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