After chasing a target of above 200 twice, Royal Challengers Banglore fetch what they deserved, a place in finals of Champions League T20. Consecutive centuries by David Warner may have been the highlight of the first innings but once Gayle and Kohli came to bat they, alone, almost got their team home with 92 and 84* respectively.
Despite the charge that they sustained and countered in their last match, RCB opted to field first when the coin flipped in their favour. Watson and Warner opened the innings for NSW, but Watson could not reamin for long as he was caught by Kaif off Dilshan at long-on. Smith replaced Waston and shared 146 runs with Warner. Warner dealt more with sixes than fours or singles, half of his total score came thorugh 11 sixes off his bat, half of the rest came through six fours. A rampage that made him the first T20 player to score consecutive centuries. Smith supported Warner with his rather steady 62, hitting seven fours and three sixes but he was largely over shadowed by his partner’s aggression.
A target of 203 is in itself a target worth a fantasy. And provided that a team had just chased an equally mammoth target, makes the chances dimmer due to the uncertainty that prevails the format. However, a team consisting of Kohli, Gayle and Dilshan have the privilege to enjoy an ambition to achieve such a target. And as it was seen, they took the liberty to achieve it too.
Dilshan was the early one leave early, similar to Watson, he was caught at mid-on. However, Gayle stood strong and was joined by Virat Kohli, together they put up 141 runs in just 11 overs to have a win appear at some part of the horizon. Interestingly, two consecutive wickets by Cummins had brought NSW back, but Kohli made no mistake to repeat a masterpiece. Although, he did get a bit of support from Kaif in the end, but the credit of the win can only be shared by Gayle and Virat Kohli. The western and the eastern Indian got their team into the finals of Champions League T20 with nine balls to spare and six wickets in hand.
Summarized Score:
Royal Challengers Bangalore 204 for 4 (Gayle 92, Kolhi 84*, Cummins 4-45) beat New South Wales203 for 2 (Warner 123*, D Smith 62) by six wickets
Man of the match V Kohli..
Source: Sportspulse...
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