Gayle's ton puts RCB one step closer to the playoffs

Royal Challengers Bangalore kept their hopes of a playoff spot alive with a 21 run win against Delhi Daredevils in a high scoring match where it rained sixes, and boundaries were hit at will. Over 400 runs were scored in the 40 overs and bowlers on both sides suffered.

There was no stopping the Gayle Storm. He led RCB to victory with an undefeated century.

Match Recap

Delhi Daredevils were led by Mahela Jayawardene since Virender Sehwag was ill, and the stand-in skipper won the toss and elected to field first. His decision seemed to pay off as Dilshan fell early, but from that moment on the story changed. It started raining sixes and fours as Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle put up a mammoth undefeated 204 run stand for the second wicket, helping RCB post 215 runs on the board. Chris Gayle helped himself to a century, scoring 128 runs of just 62 balls with 13 sixes, while skipper Kohli scored 73 from 53 balls. Delhi started the chase well; however they kept losing wickets in regular intervals. Ross Taylor’s brief cameo gave them hope and they came close, but still managed to fall 21 runs short.

The Turning Point

The wicket of Ross Taylor changed the match and put RCB in the drivers seat. Delhi Daredevils were in with a good chance and Taylor, who was going all guns blazing, would have surely taken his team across the line had he stayed. However he holed out to deep midwicket off Vinay Kumar, handing the match to RCB.

Ross Taylor finally found his touch and almost helped get his team across the line.

Where did Delhi go wrong?

Where did Delhi go wrong? No, where really? Both sides batted well, making it a high scoring match. Delhi did nothing wrong and only the pure class of Gayle and Kohli’s batting did it for them. Maybe their bowling could have restricted some 20 – 30 runs less, which would have made it easier for them to win the game.

Where do the teams stand now?

Delhi Daredevils, who have already qualified for the playoffs, continue to sit at the top of the table and they still have a match left against Punjab. Royal Challengers Bangalore are now 5^th place in the table and need to win their next match against Deccan Chargers to enter the play offs.

Game Rating

The game was of very high quality entertainment with runs flowing freely. It was a close contest in the end, and one that surely all the batsmen enjoyed. It truly can be considered as one of the highlights of this year’s IPL.

Conclusion

The match has shown us that RCB’s bowling is still weak and is a huge chink in their armor. If they don’t rectify it, they could lose their playoff spot.