The achievement of Chris Gayle and Royal Challengers Bangalore went hand in hand on yet another occasion. But the home side's convincing eight-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings, which made them table-toppers in IPL 4 league stage, was not about Gayle magic alone. The hard-hitting Jamaican scored his third half-century of the IPL edition, embellishing his unbeaten 75-run knock (50b) with six sixes and four boundaries but Chennai's agony was planted and watered way before, thanks to an inspiring RCB bowling.
Even a blazing 40-ball 70 by CSK skipper MS Dhoni couldn't stop RCB. RCB skipper Daniel Vettori and pace ace Zaheer Khan returned to the eleven and more importantly made their presence felt to restrict the defending champions to 128/8 on a good batting track. Three of the four CSK batsmen at the top of the tree gifted their wickets with loose strokes even as the discipline and attitude shown by Zaheer (2-19), Vettori (2-14) and S Arvind (2-20) ensured persistent pressure on the opponents.
The task to resurrect the CSK innings was thrust on skipper Dhoni, not for the first time in the season. After splicing up a 42-run stand in company of Wriddhiman Saha for the fifth wicket, Dhoni reserved his best for last with yet another display of impeccable power-hitting. The right-hander bludgeoned six of the seven sixes that covered the CSK total, all big hits coming in the concluding half of the innings.
Even a blazing 40-ball 70 by CSK skipper MS Dhoni couldn't stop RCB. RCB skipper Daniel Vettori and pace ace Zaheer Khan returned to the eleven and more importantly made their presence felt to restrict the defending champions to 128/8 on a good batting track. Three of the four CSK batsmen at the top of the tree gifted their wickets with loose strokes even as the discipline and attitude shown by Zaheer (2-19), Vettori (2-14) and S Arvind (2-20) ensured persistent pressure on the opponents.
The task to resurrect the CSK innings was thrust on skipper Dhoni, not for the first time in the season. After splicing up a 42-run stand in company of Wriddhiman Saha for the fifth wicket, Dhoni reserved his best for last with yet another display of impeccable power-hitting. The right-hander bludgeoned six of the seven sixes that covered the CSK total, all big hits coming in the concluding half of the innings.
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