Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli’s smashing 62 off 42 balls and Chris Gayle’s 49 run blitzkrieg off just 26 balls aided the Royal Challengers Bangalore hand Pune Warriors India its fifth consecutive loss.

After being put into bat the Royal Challengers initially rode on Chris Gayle’s powerplay as the monstrous striker pummeled the bowling attack all over the park. Searching for form, Dilshan on the other side was happy playing a supportive role.

As the side was in search of a breakthrough came Rahul Sharma (after the powerplay was over) to do exactly what its captain called for. He picked up the wicket of a struggling Dilshan to offer some hope to the despondent Pune side. Soon he got the crucial wicket of Gayle, caught in front, to lighten up his captain’s face with a big grin.

The grin didn’t last long however, as AB de Villers (26 from 20 balls) and Kohli were determined not to give away their wickets. With calculated risks they kept the scoreboard ticking throughout before Kohli loosened the shackles. He decimated the Pune bowling attack with four boundaries and as many sixes in his outstanding 62.

Pune did get the breakthrough as de Villers was out in the 17th over, but then the damage was already done.  Soon, Kohli was dismissed in the 19th over. His dismissal was followed by little cameos from Saurabh Tiwary (14 off 8) and Mohammed Kaif (8 off 5) as Bangalore set up a massive 182 as the target for the Pune Warriors to chase down.

In response to the target, Pune was never really up to the scoring rate. As Jessie Ryder (41 off 233) was looking to attack from one side, wickets kept falling in equal intervals on the other side. Paine and Pandey hardly fitted into the scheme of things consuming 40 deliveries between them and scoring only 27, something you don’t expect your opener to do especially when you are on the road for a stiff target.

Yuvraj’s whirlwind 41 off 23 balls was the only silver lining in an otherwise one-sided game. He was dismissed soon by Zaheer in the seventeenth over to ensure the no miracles happened.

This is Pune’s fifth straight loss in the IPL. If the team has to prevail, it needs to sort out the issues with its batting order.

Tags: Chris Gayle, Cricket, Indian Premier League, IPL, Pune Warriors India, PWI, RCB, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Virat Kohli