Royal Challengers Bangalore’s bowling woes returned to haunt them yet again as they slipped to their third loss in five games. The six-wicket defeat against Gujarat Lions will hurt them the most as their captain Virat Kohli had put the team in a commanding position with his maiden T20 hundred in only 63 balls. Having powered RCB to 180/2, Kohli would have expected his bowlers to do the job for him, especially when Aaron Finch didn’t bat after what looked like an injury.
The excellent batting by the top-order helped the Lions climb to the top of the table. Dinesh Karthik remained unbeaten on 50 off 39 balls after the home team got off to a flying start, amassing 72 runs in the Powerplay overs, the most this season.
Playing his first game, Dwayne Smith hit 32 off 21 balls and Brendon McCullum smashed 42 off only 24 balls to ensure the required run-rate remained in control. Though Smith was dismissed by Kane Richardson in his second over, he conceded 25 runs, which shifted the momentum.
The Lions’ were propelled by a 40-run stand between McCullum and Raina and a 53-run partnership for the third wicket between Karthik and the Gujarat skipper. Even after Raina was dismissed in the 16th over for 28, the Lions’ needed 39, but Karthik hit two boundaries in the penultimate over bowled by Iqbal Abdulla to bring the equation down to just seven.
Shane Watson bowled a no-ball and a wide was followed by Ravindra Jadeja’s wicket, but Dwayne Bravo calmly dispatched the first ball for a four to help the team bag two points.
Earlier, the home team tried every trick in the bag to stop Kohli, but the result remained the same. In blazing form this year, the RCB skipper powered his way to a scintillating century. Kohli’s 43rd fifty plus score on the day when his idol Sachin Tendulkar turned 43, was perhaps the best birthday gift the Little Master would have received.
Becoming the fourth captain to score a century in the IPL, Kohli managed to score at a S/R of close to 160 despite hitting just one six. He ran hard as usual, pierced the gaps for 11 boundaries and accelerated brilliantly in the end.
His batting masterclass followed a similar pattern. RCB lost their opener quickly and this time it was Watson, who headed back after being dismissed on just the 10th ball of the match. Having started Dhawal Kulkarni’s over with a four, Watson looked to clear the infield, but failed to read the in-cutter and ended up getting the outside edge that was lapped up by Ravindra Jadeja.
With AB de Villiers joining Kohli in the middle, the duo put on their fifth consecutive 50 plus partnership before the South African was out for 20 in the eighth over bowled by veteran Pravin Tambe.
Drafted into the side after Mandeep Singh split his webbing just after the toss, Lokesh Rahul made use of the opportunity and provided fine company to his captain. Having hit his first boundary with a reverse sweep, Rahul grew in confidence after a lull in the middle overs to propel RCB’s total with two sixes and two fours in the 16th and the 17th overs.
While Rahul got to his maiden IPL fifty in the 19th over, it looked like Kohli would miss his century when he was on 86 with just three balls to go in the final over bowled by Bravo. However, he finished off in style, hitting a six off the fourth ball, followed by two successive boundaries to get to the mark that ended a long wait of 181 innings.
Brief scores
Royal Challengers Bangalore – 180/2 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 100 not out, KL Rahul 51 not out, Pravin Tambe 1/24)
Gujarat Lions 182/4 in 19.3 overs (Dinesh Karthik 50 not out, Brendon McCullum 42, Tabraiz Shamsi 1/21) by six wickets
Man of the Match : Virat Kohli for his 100 in 63 balls
