A record breaking double century stand from Kohli and AB combined with an all-round bowling effort helped RCB shatter the Gujarat Lions by 144 runs at home.
RCB retained the same side after being asked to bat first by McCullum to bat first on an overcast afternoon at the Chinnaswamy. Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle walked out to bat for the home side but southpaw Gayle's struggles continued and he lost his wicket for 6 runs to leave RCB on 19/1 at the end of four overs. What happened next blew everyone's mind!
AB de Villiers walked out to partner Virat Kohli as RCB desperately needed their two big stars to fire! Virat Kohli was playing the waiting game but AB was warming up to the task. A six off the last ball of Kaushik's first over before hitting Tambe for a four and a six gave us a little hint of what was coming our way!
Skipper Kohli was playing perfect fiddle to a destructive AB who was nudging the ball through the gaps for boundaries consistently. At the end of the 11th over, RCB had put on 81 runs for the loss of one wicket. McCullum gave the ball to Dhawal Kulkarni who had no clue on what awaited him. Skipper Kohli whacked him for a six off the first ball before AB added to his misery as RCB managed to add 20 runs from the 12th over. AB raced to a 25-ball fifty and still looked increasingly menacing.
Meanwhile, skipper Kohli also completed his fifty as RCB sped towards a strong finish. De Villiers was batting on 77 when McCullum gave the ball to PK. AB's blitz continued as he smashed Kumar for 23 runs to get to his fastest IPL hundred! He took off his helmet and celebrated with a sense of relief before putting his foot on the accelerator again. Jadeja beat him on two occasions but AB got his revenge on the last two balls by depositing the Gujarat bowler for two successive sixes!
The duo added to Gujarat's woes by hammering Bravo for 30 runs in the 18th over! Skipper Virat Kohli was ruthless in the immediate next over when he smashed Shivil Kaushik for another 30 runs rushing to the mid 90s in no time!
Two of the world's best batters had amassed 60 runs from 18th and the 19th over. Yes, read that again! Kohli completed his third century of the tournament in style with a six over the head of the bowler. RCB managed 15 runs from the last over despite two wickets from the last two balls. They ended on a mammoth score of 248/3 courtesy Kohli and AB's 233 run stand for the 2nd wicket, the highest partnership across all seasons of the Indian Premier League.
Chasing an almost impossible target, the Gujarat Lions were dealt an early blow when Aravind sent back Dwayne Smith for 7 in the second over. Jadeja walked out to partner skipper McCullum but never looked to cause any trouble. Chahal dismissed McCullum for 11 as RCB kept making consistent breakthroughs!
Chris Jordan came into the attack and gave the Lions a double blow as Dinesh Karthik and Ravindra Jadeja were dismissed off consecutive deliveries. Yuzvendra Chahal built on the pressure from the other end and got Bravo plumb in front of the wickets. GL were kept reeling at 47-5 with half their side back in the dugout.
Aaron Finch kept an end tied up while RCB's bowlers kept chipping away with wickets at the other end. Chahal removed Nath before Jordan struck twice again to dismantle the lower order. Sachin Baby performed the last rites with the ball and got the wickets of Aaron Finch and Shivil Kaushik on back to back balls to bowl out the Lions for 104! Chris Jordan was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-11 in his three overs while Yuzvendra Chahal picked up 3 wickets for 19 runs from his full quota.
RCB have now helped their net run rate climb up massively with this 144 run win.
@imVkohli tweets: "To Kolkata, Here We Go!"
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