It was a Jamaican party at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Chris Gayle shattered any hopes Kolkata Knight Riders might have housed with a cracking unbeaten 85 from 50 deliveries to guide Royal Challengers Bangalore win their third match at home, chasing down 155 for a telling eight-wicket verdict. RCB were rattled early in the chase with Ryan McLaren accounting for Mayank Agarwal (6), caught behind in the 3rd over. Jaques Kallis followed it up with a maiden over. Virat Kohli then smashed two boundaries off McLaren, before Gayle joined in, hammering two sixes to take 22 runs of the final over of the power play. The RCB duo continued their assault taking apart Pradeep Sangwan's first over for 19 runs.
Lakshmipathy Balaji provided the much needed breakthrough dismissing Kohli (35) caught by Eoin Morgan. However Gayle kept up the aggression sending the ball over the fence on a consistent basis including a monstrous 99 metre hit off Balaji. AB de Villiers (22*), who was put down on seven by Manoj Tiwary, provided good support playing a calm and composed innings. Gayle made the most of Kallis' 16th over hitting him for two consecutive sixes before following it up with a boundary. Gayle finished the match in style with two sixes off Balaji helping RCB to reach the target with 15 balls remaining.
Earlier opting to field, RCB they were rewarded immediately as Moises Henriques had Manvinder Bisla (1) caught at point in the very first over. Gautam Gambhir who survived a run out attempt hit two boundaries off RP Singh before smashing Muttiah Muralitharan for two more. Gambhir and Kallis (16) laid the foundation for the innings putting on 51 runs for the second wicket before R Vinay Kumar struck removing the latter. Yusuf Pathan, promoted up the order, started his account with three successive boundaries off Kumar. In the 12th over, Pathan sent Jaydev Unadkat into the crowd for the first six, but just as he was looking dangerous, he holed out in the deep to give Moises Henriques his second wicket.
In the pursuit of quick runs, Gambhir (59) fell caught and bowled by Kumar. RP Singh struck twice in the 18th over getting rid of Morgan (2) and Tiwary (23) to bring back RCB into the game. Rajat Bhatia struck consecutive boundaries off Kumar's 19th, but a couple of wickets in the last over meant that KKR finished at 154 for 8. Man-of-the-Match: Chris Gayle Brief Scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 154 for 8 (Gautam Gambhir 59; RP Singh 3-27) lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore 158 for 2 (Chris Gayle 85*; Lakshmipathy Balaji 1-33) by 8 wickets.
