Bangalore: Chris Gayle played yet another scintillating knock as his unbeaten 85 ensured a convincing eight-wicket victory for Royal Challengers Bangalore over defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders in an Indian Premier League match here on Thursday.
Chasing a decent target of 155, the ‘Gayle storm’ struck KKR as RCB knocked off the runs with 15 balls to spare.
It is the third win for RCB in four matches while KKR suffered their second defeat on road having lost to Rajasthan Royals earlier this week.
The big-bodied Jamaican, who has been in prolific touch, got his runs off only 50 deliveries hitting four boundaries and as many as nine sixes.
It was therefore no surprise that Gayle is leading the ‘Maximum Sixes’ list with 14 over-boundaries
Gayle added 83 runs for the unbeaten third wicket with AB de Villiers (22 not out), who played the role of second fiddle to perfection. Gayle also added 63 runs for the second wicket with skipper Virat Kohli (35), who had an ugly on-field spat with rival captain Gautam Gambhir after he got out.
However the evening belonged to Gayle as almost all the KKR bowlers suffered in his hands except Sunil Narine who only gave away 17 runs in his four overs.
The ploy to include Delhi left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan backfired badly as he leaked 34 runs in only two overs which turned the match in RCB’s favour.
Gayle, who has employed a different tactic in this IPL as he is not attacking the bowlers during the Powerplay but has been brutal in his strokeplay during the back-10. With good support from Kohli and De Villiers, it has been easy for Gayle to launch during the later part of the innings with wickets in hand.
Earlier, captain Gautam Gambhir struck 59 to propel KKR to 154 for eight after being put into bat. (PTI)