Chris Gayle hit an unbeaten 92 off 58 balls
Royal Challengers Bangalore held nerves in the dying moments to clinch a dramatic two-run victory over Mumbai Indians in the second match of Indian Premier League edition 6 at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore on Thursday.
Managing 156-6 thanks to Chris Gayle’s unbeaten 92 off 58 balls and whelming the run-rate of tourists with disciplined bowling, the hosts were seemed on course towards comfortable win but Dinesh Karthik (67 off 37) changed the complexion of game with blistering hitting.
However, needing 10 runs from the last over the tourists failed to tackle the clever bowling of pacer Vinay Kumar and finished just short of victory.
Karthik, who hit three successive sixes and a no-ball boundary off Daniel Christian in the 16th over to brought his side back into the contention, was eventually caught at mid-on off Mayank Agarwal out off the second ball of the final over.
Vinay uprooted the stumps of Ambati Rayudu (18) on the very next delivery before Harbhajan Singh rotated the strike to West Indian swashbuckler Kieron Pollard, who cracked a boundary off the penultimate delivery, leaving tourists need four runs off the last delivery.
Amid heartbreaking pulses, Vinay delivered a brainy last ball, on which Pollard attempted to hit a boundary but could manage to take a single.
Prior to the intense drama, skipper Ricky Ponting (28 off 33) and Sachin Tendulkar (23 off 19) delivered hosts a strong 52-run opening stand in 8th over before both fell in quick-succession.
Earlier, put to bat, Bangalore failed to get the momentum early from the innings and crumbled to 5-80 in 13 overs after witnessing a flurry of wickets but Gayle’s dauntlessness and mercilessness helped the hosts manage 150-plus total.
Gayle’s unbeaten knock was studded with five monster sixes and 11 boundaries. Skipper Virat Kohli and Arun Karthik contributed 24 and 19 runs respectively.
