Chris Gayle exploded into life as Royal Challengers Bangalore did its net run rate no harm with a colossal 51-run defeat of Somerset here on Monday.
Gayle made the most of the opponent's largesse in the field, his belligerent 86 (46b, 4x4, 8x6) and 70-run stand for the second-wicket with Virat Kohli helping the home side score 206 and record its first win of the tournament. Although Peter Trego 58 (38b, 4x4, 3x6) fought back valiantly, his side was overwhelmed by the target.
Somerset was not about to roll over easily; Craig Kieswetter's ball-striking left little to chance and he took boundaries off S. Arvind and Dirk Nannes. As many as 38 runs had been scored off the opening four overs, with the first frowns visible on RCB faces. Captain Daniel Vettori then bowled himself, to immediate success. Kieswetter and Roelof van der Merwe were both held behind the wicket by K.B. Arun Karthik — the first a remarkably good effort, and the second a straight-forward top-edge to settle under.
Trego's designs
With the opponent 78 for two after nine overs, RCB may have anticipated a cruise, but Trego had other designs. Gayle bled 24 runs in the tenth over, Trego battering 22 of those, with two sixes. Suddenly, at the halfway stage, Somerset had met nearly half the target. But the host recovered; Nannes removed James Hildreth, Arvind accounted for Jos Buttler, and with the required rate soaring, victory was within grasp. Trego's dismissal on the first ball of the 17th over only firmed things up. Somerset would eventually manage only 53 runs in the second 10 overs.
Earlier, for the third straight time in the tournament, RCB found itself inserted in to bat after the luck of the coin had gone against it. Gayle wasted no time standing on ceremony; he charged down the wicket on the second ball he faced, crashing Steven Kirby through cover for four.
His attempted hoick over the same region two balls later did not go the distance, but Buttler, having circled under the skier, spilled it. Gayle could have been run out by a fine distance on eight, but the fielder missed
Gayle explodes
Murali Kartik had enjoyed a tranquil first over but Kohli shattered his peace in the next, the innings' tenth, delightfully striking him inside-out over long-off for a four and a six. Kohli's Jamaican partner had remained rather quiet through overs eight, nine and ten; but he exploded out of this dormancy in the next, fresh-faced George Dockrell bearing the punishment.
Gayle cudgelled three sixes off the left-armer: the second of those brought up RCB's 100 and the third rattled against the evidently unbreakable glass front of the press box. The over yielded 21 runs. If Somerset's bowlers expected any respite after Kohli's dismissal in the immediate one, there was little on offer.
Gayle carried on in the only way he knew, raising his fifty with a tuck to fine-leg, an aberrant four in an ocean of sixes. Karthik was buried over midwicket and long-on; Trego's offerings twice whizzed past the press box.
Meanwhile, Saurabh Tiwary and Mayank Agarwal had struck sixes of their own and though Gayle could not ‘carry his bat', the total climbed past 200. Vettori had expressed a desire to win by 30 runs at the toss; his team had eventually managed almost twice the margin.
The scores:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: C. Gayle c Suppiah b Thomas 86 (46b, 4x4, 8x6), T. Dilshan b van der Merwe 23 (16b, 4x4, 1x6), Kohli b Kirby 33 (22b, 4x4, 1x6), S. Tiwary c Suppiah b Kirby 18 (15b, 1x4, 1x6), M. Agarwal c Suppiah b Thomas 19 (8b, 1x4, 2x6), D. Vettori (run out) 1 (2b), R. Bhatkal (not out) 4(4b), A. Karthik (not out) 13 (7b, 1x6); Extras (lb-2, w-7): 9, Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 206.
Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-108, 3-157, 4-188, 5-188, 6-191.
Somerset bowling: Thomas 4-0-33-2, Kirby 4-0-23-2, Trego 3-0-50-0, van der Merwe 4-0-36-1, Kartik 3-0-34-0, Dockrell 2-0-28-0.
Somerset: P. Trego c Vettori b Bhatkal 58 (38b, 4x4, 3x6), C. Kieswetter c Karthik b Vettori 26 (19b, 3x4, 2x6), R. van der Merwe c Karthik b Vettori 6 (3b, 1x6), J. Hildreth c Karthik b Nannes 15 (15b, 1x4), J. Buttler c Tiwary b Arvind 4 (12b), N. Compton (not out) 17 (20b, 1x4), A. Suppiah b Arvind 1 (3b), A. Thomas (not out)15 (12b, 2x4); Extras (lb-3, w-8, nb-2): 13. Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 155.
Fall of wickets: 1-42, 2-48, 3-109, 4-118, 5-131, 6-135.
RCB bowling: Nannes 4-0-27-1, Arvind 4-0-23-2, Vettori 4-0-25-2, Syed 3-0-25-0, Kohli 1-0-9-0, Gayle 1-0-24-0, Bhatkal 3-0-19-1.
Source: THE HINDU...
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