IPL 9: Royal Show from A.B. de Villiers and Virat Kohli

It was mayhem at the Chinnaswamy on Saturday afternoon. The blazing heat in the city was put to shade by the incredible pyrotechnics of A.B. de Villiers and the astonishing run-making abilities of Virat Kohli as the Royal Challengers Bangalore turned on the heat in stirring fashion to wound the Gujarat Lions so badly that it would take some effort from them to recover from the mauling of this huge 144-run defeat, the biggest margin in nine seasons.

The duo’s twin hundreds and their mammoth 229-run second wicket partnership, the highest ever (the previous being the 215 by the same pair last season) was the cornerstone for RCB’s revival as they stayed in hunt for the playoffs berth with their fifth win in 11 games.

In a desperate situation with four games to go prior to the start, RCB pinned their faith in the same eleven that lost to Mumbai Indians in the previous game three days ago at the same venue but turned things around in monstrous fashion as centuries from ABD (129 n.o., 52b, 10x4, 12x6) — his first in IPL — and Kohli (109, 55b, 5x4, 8x6) — his third this season, what a peach!) powered the hosts to a huge 248/3 in 20 overs, the second highest total ever after Brendon McCullum leading in the absence of Suresh Raina sent them in.

The 263/5 that Gayle had helped RCB plunder in 2013 during his unbeaten 175 stayed on top of the charts but that was of little comfort for Lions, who were given the treatment of their lives. In reply, if it could be termed that, the Lions looked a pale shadow of themselves and slipped to 47/5 by the eighth over before they were bowled out for a miserable 104 in 18.4 overs.

Much depended on McCullum and Dwayne Smith at the top of the order if they were to make a fist of the 13+plus target per over. In the event, S. Arvind’s dismissal of Smith in the second over and Yuzvendra Chahal’s prized wicket of the rival skipper in the fifth silenced them and when the promoted Ravindra Jadeja at no. 3 fell to Chris Jordan, it was just a matter of time as the England bowler justified his retention with 4-11 from three.

It was the first occasion that two hundreds flowed from a batsmen in an IPL innings and it couldn’t have been more striking. No pun intended.

If ABD was all about power, placement and punishment, then Kohli was full of poise, panache and precision.

Gayle’s poor form continued as he fell in single digits for the fifth match but that set the stage for the murderous show. ABD, unsurprisingly, was the leader of the attack racing to his fifty and hundred with shots that beggared belief. His first 50 came in 25 balls and the second in 18 while Kohli took 39 for his 50 before upping the tempo smashing his second in just 14 deliveries! The fearsome duo smashed 20 sixes, one less than the 21 in 2013, and 15 boundaries in all as the Lions were skinned to bare bones with disdain.

Scoreboard Royal Challengers Bangalore: C. Gayle b Kulkarni 6, V. Kohli c Bravo b Kumar 109, AB de Villiers (not out) 129, S. Watson c Karthik b Kumar 0. Extras: (b1, lb1, w1, nb1) 4. Total: (for 3 wkts, in 20 overs) 248. FoW: 1-19, 2-248, 3-248. Bowling: Kumar 4-1-45-2, Kulkarni 3-0-33-1, Kaushik 3-0-50-0 (1w), Tambe 2-0-25-0, Bravo 3-0-46-0 (1nb), Jadeja 4-0-34-0, Smith 1-0-13-0.

Gujarat Lions: D. Smith b Aravind 7, B. McCullum c de Villiers b Chahal 11, R. Jadeja c & b Jordan 21, D. Karthik c de Villiers b Jordan 2, A. Finch c Aravind b Baby 37, D. Bravo lbw b Chahal 1, A. Nath b Chahal 3, P. Kumar b Jordan 1, D. Kulkarni b Jordan 2, P. Tambe (not out) 7, S. Kaushik c Aravind b Baby 0. Extras (b1, lb3, w5, nb3) 12. Total: (in 18.4 overs) 104. FoW: 1-9, 2-37, 3-44, 4-44, 5-47, 6-68, 7-69, 8-74, 9-104. Bowling: Binny 2-0-13-0, Aravind 3-0-15-1, Chahal 4-0-19-3, Watson 1-0-3-0 (1w), Jordan 3-0-11-4 (2w), Aaron 2-0-19-0 (2w), Kohli 1-0-13-0 (2nb), Gayle 2-0-3-0 (1nb), Baby 0.4-0-4-2.