Gayle and de Villiers destroy Kings XI

Mahmood's cameo and Awana's four-wicket haul go in vain

April 21, 2012 12:49 am | Updated 12:49 am IST - MOHALI

UNITED WE STAND: Chris Gayle and A.B. de Villiers were involved in a fourthwicket partnership of 131 runs to ensure victory for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Photo: Akhilesh Kumar

UNITED WE STAND: Chris Gayle and A.B. de Villiers were involved in a fourthwicket partnership of 131 runs to ensure victory for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Photo: Akhilesh Kumar

The going was good for Kings XI Punjab until it encountered the destructive duo of Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers.

What followed was Royal Challengers Bangalore's finest hour, with the two batsmen settling down and turning the match on its head to set up a resounding five-wicket victory.

Chasing a challenging target of 164, Bangalore looked in serious trouble at 25 for three at the start of the sixth over. But it was not without hope.

Man-of-the-match Gayle (87) and de Villiers (52) did not let down their team and fans by raising a record 131 runs in just 76 deliveries for the fourth wicket before departing, in the space of two runs, at the threshold of a third victory in the competition.

Gayle gauged the situation well, cut out the risky shots for the better part of the innings before cutting loose.

His four sixes and eight boundaries even had the home crowd on its feet, admiring and enjoying.

On his part, de Villiers too did not put a foot wrong. The South African's six boundaries, including one reverse slog, were testimony to the class that he brings into this slam-bang format.

By the time Gayle departed to a brilliant diving effort by stand-in skipper David Hussey, Bangalore needed just eight runs from 14 deliveries.

De Villiers too did not last long enough to put the finishing touches after reaching his half-century. But it did not help Punjab's cause.

The combined efforts of Gayle and de Villiers, however, put into shade the seasoned Azhar Mahmood's (on IPL debut) cameo of 33 and Parvinder Awana's four-wicket haul.

Early wickets

Earlier, it was difficult to imagine Punjab crossing the 150-mark when its openers Paul Valthaty and Nitin Saini fell to Zaheer Khan by the fifth over.

Saini, Haryana's wicketkeeper-opener, was the replacement for skipper Adam Gilchrist who missed his first game in 16 years due to injury! The Aussie-duo of Shaun Marsh and Hussey looked promising, but tossed away good starts.

Hussey, dropped on 34 by Gayle off Harshal Patel, fell in the same over.

If Punjab managed to set a challenging target it was mainly due to some late-order urgency showed by Mahmood and Mandeep.

Joining hands at 105 for five in 15 overs, the duo added 44 runs off 25 deliveries, with just one dot ball.

Remarkably, they kept the scoreboard ticking with ones and twos.

Mahmood's two sixes and three boundaries were instrumental in the team getting past the 150-run mark. Mandeep scored a 15-ball 20 without a single boundary!

Productive overs

The last four overs produced 51 runs, including 14 each in two overs bowled by Vinay Kumar, with Harshal Patel and Zaheer Khan going for 13 and 10, respectively.

In fact, Bangalore's bowling again appeared friendly despite Andrew McDonald coming in for Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Bangalore's over-dependence on its batting to win matches may not carry the team too far in the competition.

Scoreboard:

Kings XI Punjab : N. Saini b Zaheer 14 (12b, 1x4), P. Valthaty c de Villiers b Zaheer 6 (12b, 1x4), S. Marsh b McDonald 26 (17b, 3x4, 1x6), D. Hussey b Harshal 41 (34b, 4x4), D. Miller c Zaheer b McDonald 8 (13b), Mandeep c Kohli b Vinay 20 (15b), A. Mahmood (not out) 33 (14b, 3x4, 2x6), P. Chawla (not out) 7 (3b, 1x4); Extras (b-1, lb-4, w-3): 8; Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 163.

Fall of wickets : 1-14 (Saini), 2-27 (Valthaty), 3-57 (Marsh), 4-94 (Miller), 5-105 (Hussey), 6-149 (Mandeep).

Royal Challengers Bangalore bowling : Zaheer 4-0-25-2, Vinay 4-0-40-1, Harshal 4-0-44-1, McDonald 4-0-25-2, Vettori 4-0-24-0.

Royal Challengers Bangalore : M. Agarwal lbw b Awana 1 (3b), C. Gaylec Hussey b Awana 87 (56b, 8x4, 4x6), V. Kohli c Marsh b Awana 4 (4b, 1x4), S. Tiwary c Saini b Awana 4 (7b), A.B. de Villiers lbw b Chawla 52 (39b, 6x4), A. McDonald (not out) 8 (6b, 1x4), D. Vettori (not out) 2 (3b); Extras (nb-1, w-7): 8; Total (for five wkts. in 19.3 overs): 166.

Fall of wickets : 1-4 (Agarwal), 2-8 (Kohli), 3-25 (Tiwary), 4-156 (Gayle), 6-158 (de Villiers).

Kings XI Punjab bowling : Praveen 4-0-35-0, Awana 4-0-34-4, Chawla 4-0-21-1, Harmeet 4-0-46-0, Mahmood 3.3-0-30-0.

Man-of-the-match : C. Gayle.

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