AB snatches win from Lions’ jaws

Bengaluru, May 24

AB de Villiers played a breathtaking knock to singlehandedly lead Royal Challengers Bangalore into the IPL final with a thrilling four-wicket win over Gujarat Lions here today.

Chasing 159, Bangalore looked down and out at 29/5 before de Villiers smashed 79 off 47 balls to script a sensational comeback and take the team home in 18.2 overs. The Lions were outdone by one man’s class as the efforts of Dhawal Kulkarani and Dwayne Smith went in vain.

With this spectacular win, Bangalore are into their third IPL final and just one step away from their maiden title. Gujarat, on other hand, will have another chance to make the summit clash in the second qualifier in New Delhi on Friday.

Bangalore were expected to overcome the target with minimum fuss but the tricky batting conditions at the normally batting-friendly Chinnaswamy Stadium made the job tougher for them. Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle can close the game in a space of a few overs but the devastating opening pair had an off day. Kohli, who has been in a sensational form this IPL, suffered a rare failure when he dragged a wide one off Kulkarni on to his stumps, stunning the crowd into silence.

The disappointment on the face of India’s star batsman was evident as he walked back. The two of his four hundreds in the competition had come against Gujarat. The odd ball stopping on a slower surface made the task more challenging. 

Gayle too was out in Kulkarni’s over as he attempted a whack over midwicket, only to see his stumps rattled. Kulkarni kept bowling in the off-stump corridor and that worked brilliantly for him. Lokesh Rahul was caught at first slip on the following ball and Kulkarni was on a hat-trick. Kulkarni ended with a career-best figures of 4 /14, albeit in a losing cause.

Soon, RCB had lost half their side with de Villiers left to pull off a Herculean task. The South African, as he often he does, brought his team back into the game and involved Iqbal Abdulla (33 not out off 25) in a unbeaten 91-run stand for the seventh wicket.

The team needed 49 off the last 30 balls but de Villiers paced his innings perfectly to take the team home with 10 balls to spare. He smashed five sixes and as many boundaries in his special knock.

Earlier, Smith hammered 73 off 41 balls to help Gujarat Lions recover from a disastrous start and post a competitive total. Smith hammered six sixes in his whirlwind knock and shared an 85-run stand with Dinesh Karthik (26 off 30) after Gujarat had lost their top three batsmen for nine runs. Watson was the standout bowler for the hosts with 4/29. — PTI

Scoreboard

Gujarat
A Finch c Gayle b Iqbal Abdulla 4
B McCullum c de Villiers b I Abdulla 1
S Raina c Aravind b Watson 1
K Karthik b Jordan 26
D Smith c Kohli b Chahal 73
R Jadeja c Gayle b Watson 3
D Bravo b Watson 8
E Dwivedi c Kohli b Watson 19
P Kumar b Jordan 1
D Kulkarni run out (S Baby/Rahul) 10
S Jakati not out 1
Extras: (LB 6, W 5) 11 
Total (all out; 20 overs) 158  
FOW: 1-2, 2-6, 3-9, 4-94, 5-107, 6-115, 7-145, 8-145, 9-156, 10-158

Bowling
S Aravind 3-0-13-0
I  Abdulla 4-0-38-2
S Watson 4-0-29-4
C Jordan 4-0-26-2
Y Chahal 4-0-42-1
S Binny 1-0-4-0

Bangalore
C Gayle b Kulkarni 9
V Kohli b Kulkarni 0
A de Villiers not out 79
K Rahul c Smith b Kulkarni 0
S Watson c Smith b Jadeja 1
S Baby c Jakati b Kulkarni 0
S Binny lbw b Jadeja 21
I Abdulla not out 33
Extras (lb 7, w 8, nb 1) 16
Total (6 wickets; 18.2 overs) 159
FOW:1-12 2-25 3-25 4-28 5-29 6-68 

Bowling
P Kumar 3.2-0-32-0
D Kulkarni 4-1-14-4
R Jadeja 4-0-21-2
S Jakati 3-0-45-0
D Bravo 3-0-26-0
D Smith 1-0-14-0
MoM: AB de Villiers

Today’s match
Eliminator: Kolkata vs Hyderabad 
Live on Sony Six, 8pm