Bangalore: An aggressive half-century by skipper Virat Kohli (56 not out, 29b, 6x4, 4x6) carried Royal Challengers Bangalore to a 24-run win over league leaders Chennai Super Kings here yesterday and kept their play-off hopes alive in the IPL tournament.
Put into bat after a delayed start due to rains that reduced the game to eight overs a side, RCB blasted their way to 106 for two with Kohli leading from the front and putting on 67 with Chris Gayle (28, 13b, 4x6) in just 32 balls.
CSK’s response was rather tepid in comparison despite a fighting 19-ball 32 by Murali Vijay and their challenge virtually dissipated when Zaheer Khan removed Michael Hussey (5) and Suresh Raina (0) in consecutive deliveries in the second over as the hosts eventually finished on 82 for six.
Zaheer Khan, who picked up two more wickets in his final over, finished with four for 17.
The result took RCB’s tally to 18 on completion of their league engagements, the same as Sunrisers Hyderabad who are to play Kolkata Knight Riders in a home game today.
Earlier, Kohli took it upon himself to raise a gallop at the start of the innings as he unleashed a series of well-timed shots against off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who went for 21 runs in two and Chris Morris (22 off two) while at the other end, Gayle opted to play second fiddle.
Kohli completed his half-century in the final over that was plundered for 16 runs, slamming Bravo for two sixes and a boundary, and RCB finished on 106 for two.
Meanwhile, playing their final league match, Kings XI Punjab finished on a winning note by beating table-toppers Mumbai Indians by 50 runs in their IPL clash in Dharamsala at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium yesterday.
It was also the last match of their captain, Adam Gilchrist, who has announced his retirement from the format.
Put into bat, the home team posted a challenging total of 183/8 with the help of two fantastic knocks from Azhar Mahmood (80) and Shaun Marsh (63).
In reply, the Indians could only manage 133 in 19.1 overs with none of the batsmen playing an anchor’s knock.
With this win, the Punjab-based team finished their IPL campaign sixth with 16 points, thus not qualifying for the playoffs.
Kings XI lost Gilchrist (5) and Mandeep Singh (1) cheaply by the third over which put the hosts in a spot of bother but Mahmood and Marsh struck a 148-run third wicket partnership which set up their innings.IANS
