Headlines
Gayle storm shapes Royal Challengers' victory over Knight Riders
By
Sirshendu PanthKolkata, April 12
Demolition man Chris Gayle
powered Royal Challengers Bangalore from a tough situation to a terrific
three wicket win over title holders Kolkata Knight Riders in an Indian
Premier league match here on Saturday.
Replying to a
challenging 177/6 posted by the Knight Riders, the visitors rode on the
Gayle storm - as the Caribbean plundered 96 runs hammering seven fours
and the same number of sixes, some of them landing at the far corner of
the huge Eden Gardens galleries - to romp to 179/7 with a full over to
spare before 61,000 plus spectators.
However, the script had
looked much different at the end of the 15th over of the Royal
Challengers' innings. Losing wickets at regular intervals and with most
of their famed batsmen back in the dugout, the Bangalore based team
needed 59 of 30 balls with five wickets at hand.
But then Gayle
took over. Earlier dropped once by Morne Morkel of Yusuf Pathan, the
Jamaican clobbered Pathan for a four and a six in the 16th over. The
over ended with Morkel again flooring a Gayle catch, a slip that proved
too costly for the Knights.
Sean Abbott was run out in the next
over, but Gayle more than made up for that by dispatching Shakib Al
Hasan for two back to back sixes as the Royal Challengers reached 146/6.
Eleven
came from the 18th, while Gayle hoiked Morkel in the first ball of the
penultimate over into the stands taking the Royals to 171/7, only seven
short of victory.
But then what happened was an anti-climax.
Gayle's meaty blow was stopped in the deep by Manish Pandey, and in his
zeal to keep the strike, the Jamaican suddenly decided to go for a
second run. It proved suicidal and Gayle was short of his crease when
wicketkeeper Robin Uthappa uprooted the bails by latching on to the
throw.
But by then the visitors' victory was a mere formality and
Harshal Patel (9 not out) and Abu Nechim (5 not out) saw their side
through.
Earlier, the Royals' reply began on a somewhat sedate
note, with the two openers Gayle and captain Virat Kohli began
cautiously, rotating the strike craftily.
Kohli (13) was out
caught behind while trying to pull a short ball going down the leg of
Morkel in 5th over with the score being 29.
Dinesh Karthick (6;
8b 1x4) was next to go castled by Yusuf Pathan. In the same over Mandeep
Singh immediately after hitting a six was bowled by Pathan when he
missed an attempted reverse sweep putting Bangalore in trouble with
56/3.
AB de Villiers, who tried to take the battle to the
opponent camp with a 13-ball 28 (3x4, 2x6), danced down the track to K C
Cariappa, missed and Uthappa did the rest.
In the evening, the Knight Riders built on a sound start provided by skipper Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa.
Gambhir
continued his rollicking form in the tournament to crack a 46-ball 58
(7x4, 1x6) while Uthappa struck 35 of 28 deliveries (4x4) as the duo put
on 81 for the opening wicket, before West Indies cricketer Andre Russel
provided a perfect finish with a cameo at the Eden Gardens.
It
was largely due to Russel's lusty hittings that 55 runs came of the last
five overs, enabling the hosts to set an asking rate of 8.9 for the
Royal Challengers after being put in to bat.
The Jamaican
remained unconquered on a 17-ball 41 that was studded with six
boundaries and two sixes on a day the visitors fielded sloppily dropping
a couple of easy chances besides conceding a few runs due to their
ineptness.