IPL 10: Gujarat Lions beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 7 wickets

Bengaluru: Aaron Finch’s violent assault on the Royal Challengers Bangalore attack that fetched 72 runs off just 34 deliveries boosted bottom-placed Gujarat Lions to a morale-lifting seven-wicket victory at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Thursday.

Chasing just 135 after RCB were bowled out for a second successive time, the Lions made a faltering start, but it took the arrival of the stocky Finch to change the complexion of the chase in just a few deliveries.

The powerful Australian launched into the RCB attack to first bring up his half-century off just 22 balls, clobbering four sixes and as many boundaries enroute. He then continued the assault before falling for a superbly-paced 72 (34b, 5x4, 6x6) that spared none in the bowing lineup.

Samuel Badree had given RCB some hope with the wickets of openers Ishan Kishan and Brendon McCullum in his first two overs, but once Finch counter-attacked, all Lions skipper Suresh Raina had to so was sit back, rotate the strike and watch the fireworks from the other end before hitting the winning runs in the 14th over itself.

The Lions coasted across the line with as many as 37 balls in hand to condemn RCB to an early and inglorious end in IPL-10.

Earlier, Royal Challengers Bangalore — despite their star-studded batting — were shot out for a measly 134, the first time in IPL history they had been bowled out twice in as many games.

Put in to bat, RCB once again found themselves in hot water as their woes continued, with Andrew Tye leading the Lions attack with three wickets and Ravindra Jadeja picking up two.

It looked like the crushing loss against the Kolkata Knight Riders was still haunting the Challengers, as they failed to build a single partnership with the top order crumbling like a cookie.

Opening the batting with skipper Virat Kohli (10), Chris Gayle failed once more as the home team buckled under pressure.

After a slow start, Kohli was the first to walk back to the pavilion. Gayle followed in the very next over, when Tye picked up his first scalp, caught behind by Dinesh Karthik.

Tye removed Tim Head in the very next, setting himself nicely for a hat-trick. But that was not to be, as Kedar Jadhav took control, turning things around for a few overs. Jadhav’s swift 31 off 18 balls included four fours and a six. But just as he was starting to look settled, Jadeja bowled Jadhav.

Pawan Negi gave the home crowd something to cheer about, top-scoring for RCB, with a knock off 32 off 19 deliveries. Negi’s knock was studded with three fours and two sixes. But Ankit Soni, playing his debut T20 match, picked up Negi’s wicket to keep RCB in check.