'Gayle'storm seals the game against Kings XI
A splendid partnership between Chris Gayle and AB deVilliers saw the Royal Challengers Bangalore beat the Kings XI Punjab by 5 wickets with 3 balls to spare.
The Royal Challenger’s chase got off to a terrible start after losing three early wickets, all of them captured by the young Parvinder Awana. Mayank Agarwal was the first of Awana’s victims, as he got out lbw for 1 run. Virat Kohli scored a boundary but soon followed Agarwal back to the pavillion after edging one straight to Marsh at point. Saurabh Tiwary also recorded 4 runs before he top-edged one straight to Saini the wicket-keeper to hand Awana his third wicket.
At 25/3, the Royal Challengers were in deep trouble but when a team has batsmen of the calibre of Chris Gayle and AB deVilliers at the crease, anything could happen. The audience at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium were treated to an incredible 131-run partnership!
Gayle who had started off slow, picked up momentum and scored 87 runs off 56 balls with 8 boundaries and 4 massive sixes. De Villiers, at the other end, anchored the innings well with his 52 runs coming off 39 balls with six glorious boundaries. The pair put the Royal Challengers well on their way to victory before a stunning catch from David Hussey sent Gayle back to the pavillion. In the process, Awana claimed his fourth wicket to end with impressive figures of 4 wickets in 4 overs for the cost of 34 runs. However, Andrew McDonald and Daniel Vettori helped their team through to the finish-line with McDonald unleashing a cover drive for a boundary in the last over for a well-earned victory.
Earlier, the Kings XI Punjab, who were put into bat by Vettori, struggled at the top due to Zaheer Khan‘s incisive bowling. The spearhead of the Royal Challengers’ bowling attack got the opening pair of Paul Valthaty & Nitin Saini out for 6 and 14 runs respectively. The Australian duo of Shaun Marsh and David Hussey saved Kings XI the blushes as they forged a brief partnership that brought the team back into the game. Marsh recorded 26 runs from 17 balls, studded with 3 fours and a DLF Maximum, before he was castled by an Andrew McDonald delivery. David Miller who came out after Marsh was dismissed, did not last long as he mistimed a shot of a McDonald delivery, which went straight into the hands of Khan at cover. David Hussey played the sheet anchor’s role to perfection with 41 runs from 31 balls, laced with 4 cracking boundaries. It took a special effort from the youngster, Harshal Patel, to rattle the in-form batsman’s stumps.
The Kings XI found themselves in a hole once again but a brilliant 44-run partnership from the destructive Azhar Mahmood and Mandeep Singh saw them post a defendable target of 163 for the loss of 6 wickets. Vinay Kumar got Singh out for 20 runs while Mahmood’s blitzkrieg of 33 runs off 14 balls, containing 3 boundaries and 2 huge hits over the fence, helped revive his team’s chances in the match.
Scores
Kings XI Punjab 163/6 (20/20 ov)
RCB 166/5 (19.3/20 ov)
Man of the match – Chris Gayle