IPL 10, Match 20, Gujarat Lions v Royal Challengers Bangalore: 5 Tracking Points

Between two teams who only boasted of one win each in their games so far, looming far behind in the lower half of the table, only one could emerge victorious and take some confidence from the victory to continue their season with a little more joy. It was the Royal Challengers Bangalore who finally managed to register their second win and climb to the sixth spot on the table while the Lions slipped to the last.

Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli are the faces of IPL, and both are having a tough initial phase this IPL, be it the fact that their leadership isn’t bringing them results on the right time or the injury/unavailability of major players, or the problems with the ever-changing squad. So, they shared the same pain until this match. RCB has gained slight momentum, however.

A high scoring game, one that crossed 200 was going to be a good one. And it was going to be tough for the side batting first to post a total that they could defend. RCB successfully posted 214 and a Herculean task for Raina and Co. was underway. Baz’s knock was Gujarat’s reply to Bangalore, but the RCB bowlers, Negi and Chahal, rather pulled RCB back in the game.

Here are 5 Tracking Points for the Gujarat Lions v Royal Challengers Bangalore encounter

The Universe Boss is back

Chris Gayle, now a veteran of 10,000 T20 runs, and 18 Man of the Match awards in IPL. the southpaw went berserk at the top, providing RCB with a much needed explosive start with Virat Kohli on the other end. Though the whole McCullum’s floppy hat saga did bring him some luck, Gayle looked in for a Gaylestorm today with 77 off 38. RCB hadn’t looked so good during the PowerPlay in the previous matches, but they changed that today.

He reached his first half-century of this year’s IPL and his first in the last 17 T20 innings, with a 104m monster and celebrated it with the salt bae move.It was a sensational innings by the Sachin Tendulkar of T20I’s whose also completed 10,000 T20 runs in the process. It was a much-needed innings from the left-handed batsman who was under severe pressure to perform ahead of the important encounter for RCB.

Baz rolls back to the years

On a day he had set fireworks in the first year of IPL, ten years back, he almost pulled off a stunner in the deep, catching Chris Gayle on 38, only for his hat to brush the boundary ropes. But that was not it, he then kept GL in the hunt with a 44-ball 72. 10 years down, but the cricket in him has not diminished one bit. McCullum puts up another show, against the very same opponents. Despite the heroics, GL ended up on the losing side.

It was a scintillating display of batsmanship by the former Kiwis captain who looked in ominous touch and was well in pursuit to chase the total down. His innings of 72 came in a mere 44 deliveries which included 2 fours and 7 maximum. It was entertainment at it’s fullest especially after the Gayle storm earlier.

Chahal remains the pick of the bowlers

3/31 are pretty good figures in a high scoring game. He is usually hit for a few runs, but he will hardly end the game wicket-less. He took the big wickets of Dwayne Smith, who he dismissed in his first over itself, Suresh Raina, who was looking in good touch as well as Brendon McCullum, who was taking the game away from RCB till the time he was there.

A big total was posted, but it would matter only if RCB was able to defend it after its repetitive failures in the previous matches, and Yuzvendra Chahal did well to keep up with that. Chahal wasn’t frightened to toss the ball up and it paid off rich dividends as the leggie took important wickets at crucial junctures of the game to peg the hosts back.

Ishan Kishan gives a glimpse of his bright future

Ishan Kishan’s 39 off 16 seemed like it came too late for the GL. This innings demanded a position higher up the order, for he played some audacious shots with bravery when the game appeared to slip away after McCullum’s dismissal. He added some hope for his reeling side, but it was all gone when he was dismissed just 1 ball before the final one. After his heroics today, IPL has one more future prospect that it can boast about in times to come.

In the penultimate over of the match, the 18-year-old southpaw smashed Sreenath Arvind for 21 runs which included 2 maximums and a four. It was brutal hitting by the youngster who surely has a very bright future ahead.

Kedar Jadhav, the finisher

Kedar Jadhav’s stature as a middle order batsman as well as a finisher has grown leaps and bounds since the limited-overs series against England earlier this year. Today though, he did more of the late hitting with Travis Head by his side. He smashed 38 off 16 balls to bring 213-2 for RCB. When he walked out to bat the visitors were 159 for 2 in the 16th over.

It was his knock that ensured that RCB crossed the crucial 200-run mark to put the Lions under pressure. The 30 odd runs he helped add on the scoreboard proved to be a match-winning for RCB. His innings was decorated with 5 fours and 2 sixes. The Pocket-sized dynamo looked in awesome power hitting form as he smashed the listless GL bowlers all around the Saurashtra Cricket Stadium.