BANGALORE: Chris Gayle’s unbeaten 75 (6x6, 4x4) agaist Chennai Super Kings at the packed Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Sunday steered Royal Challengers Bangalore to top of the IPL table.
Needing 128 to win, the Bangalore outfit cruised to victory with two overs remaining. Virat Kohli (31) and Saurabh Tiwary (13 not out) gave company to Gayle. The West Indian now has 511 runs to his credit in just nine IPL-IV games. He crossed Kings XI Punjab batsman Shaun Marsh’s total of 504 off 14 innings.
AB de Villiers opened with Gayle but was stumped by M S Dhoni off the third ball off Ashwin’s over. Gayle and Kohli came together and put on 80 runs off 66 balls.
Gayle was severe on Doug Bollinger as he sliced him over third man, pulled him over mid wicket and then hoisted one over long on for towering sixers as the crowd lapped it up.
But Albie Morkel suffered the most at his hands. He pitched one a trifle short and Gayle punched it back. The bowler came in the way of that full-blooded stroke and was hit on the right thigh above the knee. He lay writhing in pain but got up and completed the over. Gayle then welcomed him with a pull over mid-wicket for a huge six.
By the time Kohli was out, caught by Ashwin at fine leg as he turned Morkel, the writing was on the wall for Chennai. Gayle and Tiwary completed the formalities with two overs to go.
Earlier, a swash-buckling knock of 70 by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni saved Chennai Super Kings’ blushes. He slammed six huge sixers and three fours to push his team to a fighting total of 128. Chennai, at one point of time, were reeling at 22 for four as the RCB pace bowlers pegged away at a tidy line and length. The wicket was a trifle slow with the ball not exactly coming up for stroke making early on. Yet, it rose appreciably after pitching in some areas forcing the batsmen to commit errors galore.
It all started with Mike Hussey going for a big hit and playing on a Zaheer Khan delivery which looked harmless as it came off his left hand. Murali Vijay then edged one leaving him outside the off stump from Aravind and wicket-keeper AB de Villiers dived to his right to pick it up low down.
With the openers gone, Suresh Raina and S Badrinath came together but separated after adding mere six runs. Raina top-edged a Zaheer delivery towards point where Kohli made no mistake. Badrinath went for a lofted shot towards long off but holed out to Mithun off Vettori. Wriddhiman Saha and Dhoni came together and put on a useful stand of 42 runs in 47 balls.
As the spinners came on, Dhoni got into the act and was particularly severe on Gayle. The average slowly but surely crept up a little but Saha pulled one right into Luke Pomerbach at deep square off Kohli after making 22 which had one six off Gayle over long on and one boundary.
As he kept running out of partners, the Chennai skipper garnered as much of the strike as possible forsaking sure singles at times.
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