IPL 10, Match 20, GL vs RCB Review: Gayle, Chahal get RCB back on track

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) finally came back to winning ways by winning the 20th match of Vivo IPL 10 against Gujarat Lions by 21 runs to crop up to the 6th position in the points table. It was the comeback man Chris Gayle who smashed a magnificent 77 of 38 deliveries which powered the visitors to a score of 213.

Captain Virat Kohli also played a good hand as RCB registered the highest total of IPL 10. Gujarat Lions were there in the chase for a long time courtesy a brilliant hand by Brendon McCullum and a late blitz by teenager Ishan Kishan. But despite their valiant efforts Gujarat Lions eventually fell short by 21 runs to go down to the bottom of the points table.

Gujarat Lions captain Suresh Raina won the toss and put the visitors in. In the absence of South African superstar AB de Villiers, Caribbean legend Chris Gayle came into the team and played a sensational innings. During the innings, he also became the first cricketer in the world to cross 10,000 T20 runs which is a sublime achievement in itself.

Captain Virat Kohli began with a hat-trick of boundaries in the 3rd over of the match and looked in ominous touch. His partner on the other end, Gayle was not looking in rhythm and kept slogging and missing. It looked as if the writing was on the wall but the southpaw turned things around and started smashing the GL bowlers all around the park.

Gayle finally struck a big six of Basil Thampi in the 5th over but it didn’t came from the middle of the bat. The southpaw took on No.1 Test bowler Ravindra Jadeja with disdain and smashed him for a couple of sixes and couple of fours in the 8th over to take RCB to 75/0 at the end of 8 overs. He looked unstoppable and sixes just kept flowing from the bat of Gayle.

The brutal hitter of the ball smashed Shivil Kaushik for a six over long on region and followed it up with a couple of maximums in the very next over of his countryman Dwayne Smith. RCB was looking in command and looked set for a score well beyond 200. Basil Thampi eventually brought about the downfall of Gayle with a well-disguised slower delivery in the 14th over.

Travis Head walked out in the middle to join his captain and looked in ominous touch from the outset. Along with Kohli the duo smashed a couple of sixes of Shivil Kaushik in the 15th over but in the very next over Kohli fell to Dhawal Kulkarni after scoring a well composed 64 of 50 deliveries. Despite the fall of the two openers pocket-sized dynamo Kedar Jadhav kept the momentum going by smashing a couple of big hits moment after his arrival.

He ended the innings with a big 21 runs over from Jadeja as the little man looked in sublime touch. While Jadhav remained unbeaten on 38 of 16 deliveries, Head scored 30 of the same number of deliveries. Chasing the big total, GL got off to the worst possible start losing Dwayne Smith in the 2nd over of the innings. It was Chahal who provided the visitors with the much-needed breakthrough before left-arm spinner Pawan Negi began with a tight opening over where he conceded a solitary run.

Captain Raina executed a couple of exceptional shots which fetched maximum results. While the first six was guided over the square, the next six came over the long-off region. It was sensational hitting by the southpaw. He couldn’t keep going as Chahal yet again provided the visitors with a crucial breakthrough in the form of Suresh Raina.

His cameo of 23 came in only 8 balls as GL was reduced to 37/2 at the end of 4 overs. Despite the fall of two crucial wickets, the hosts kept the required run rate under check as they raced off to 57/2 at the end of the powerplay. Both Brendon McCullum and Aaron Finch looked good and played some delightful shots en route to a vital partnership.

It was sublime hitting both as they looked well in pursuit of that humungous run rate. Pawan Negi gave RCB the 3rd wicket by dismissing Finch in the 4th delivery of the 10th over. At the end of the 3rd half of the match, Gujarat Lions were well placed at 103/3, requiring 111 more in the back 10 to register a scintillating victory.

Dinesh Karthik who came behind some good form was dismissed pretty soon as the hosts felt the scoreboard pressure. Meanwhile, McCullum was not yet ready to give up and smashed a couple of big sixes of the 14th and the 15th over to keep the target within the manageable limit. With McCullum still out there the required 80 of the last 6 was a real possibility.

But Chahal got the 3rd wicket of his day as the leggie dismissed McCullum with a well tossed up delivery. McCullum got under it but was unable to middle it and found out the deep mid-wicket fielder. It was RCB’s match from there on but a twist was still there on the cards.

Youngster Ishan Kishan struck some lusty blows to keep the hopes of GL going but in reality, the target looked way too much from there on. With 47 required off the last 2, Kishan smashed 21 runs of Sreenath Arvind in the penultimate over but still, the 26 run target in the final over was bound to be way too much for the 18-year-old.

Adam Milne ended the match with the wicket of Kishan in the 4th delivery of the final over as Royal Challengers Bangalore returned triumphant by 21 runs. The victory comes at a crucial stage of the tournament which will surely keep them in good stead as the tournament progresses.

Brief Scores

Royal Challengers Bangalore 213/2 in 20 overs (Chris Gayle 77, Virat Kohli 64, Basil Thampi 1/31)

Gujarat Lions 192/7 in 20 overs (Brendon McCullum 72, Ishan Kishan 39, Yuzvendra Chahal 3/31)

Royal Challengers Bangalore won by 21 runs

Check out – Full scorecard here

Check out – Points table here