Bangalore: Some fine display of bowling by Royal Challengers’ bowlers coupled with a fantastic unbeaten knock of 49 runs by Chris Gayle gave Bangalore a comprehensive seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals here at Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
Skipper Virat Kohli invited Rajasthan to bat after winning the toss and his bowlers responded brilliantly by dismissing the Royals for just 117 in 19.4 overs on a track which appeared to be batsmen-friendly.
RP Singh was the most successful bowler for the host as he took three wickets for 13 runs while R Vinay Kumar too came up with a superlative show with 3/18. Ravi Rampaul returned with a figure of 2 for 19 as Rajasthan slumped to their lowest total in this IPL season so far.
The hosts reached the target with 13 balls to spare. Gayle ended the match in style with a huge six to remain not out on 49 off 44 balls.
Meanwhile Ravindra Jadeja played a superb knock to steer Chennai Super Kings to a four-wicket win against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens.
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Brief Scores:
Royal Challengers Bangalore
123 for 3 (Gayle 49*) beat
Rajasthan Royals 117 (Dravid 35, RP Singh 3-13, Vinay Kumar 3-18) by 7 wickets
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Chasing a target of 120, Super Kings ran themselves into trouble as they were reduced to 89 for six in the 17th over. However Jadeja came to their rescue once again as he hit a timely 36 off 14 deliveries to hand over Chennai the much-needed win. He shared an unbeaten 35-run partnership with Dwayne Bravo (7). Apart from Jadeja, Mike Hussey (40 off 51) played a sensible innings at the top to keep CSK in the hunt even as wickets kept falling at the other end.
Earlier, Knight Riders wasted the good start given by Gautam Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan and were restricted to a modest 119 for nine in 20 overs. After Gambhir (25) was dismissed by a stunning catch taken by Hussey, the Knight Riders who were 46 for no loss, slumped to 91 for eight in 15.5 overs.