Gayle, Dilshan power Bangalore to victory

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BANGALORE: Chris Gayle hammered 36 runs in an over in his 16-ball 44 to fire Royal Challengers Bangalore to a nine-wicket win over Kochi Tuskers Kerala in an Indian Premier League match on Sunday.

The West Indies batsman put on 67 for the opening wicket off just 3.5 overs with Sri Lankan Tillakaratne Dilshan (52 not out off 31 balls) as Bangalore achieved a modest 126-run target with more than six overs to spare.

It was Bangalore's sixth victory in 10 matches and Kochi's sixth defeat in 11 games of the Twenty20 tournament.

Mumbai have already made sure of the semi-finals with 16 points. They are followed by Kolkata (14), Bangalore (13), Chennai (12), Rajasthan (11), Kochi (10), Delhi (eight), Deccan (six), Punjab (six) and Pune (four).

Gayle, the only batsman to have made two IPL centuries, went on the rampage in the third over when he hit seamer Prasanth Parameswaran for four sixes and three fours in a seven-ball over, including a no-ball.

His flourish ended in the next over when he was bowled by seamer Vinay Kumar, but not before putting his team on course for victory.

Dilshan also went for shots early in the innings, cracking one six and three fours in an over from off-spinner Ramesh Powar. He completed the victory with an unfinished 61-run stand for the second wicket with Virat Kohli (27 not out).

New Zealand left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori and paceman Sreenath Aravind earlier shared four wickets to restrict Kochi to a small total.

Kochi made a steady start when Australian Michael Klinger (24) and New Zealander Brendon McCullum (22) added 43 for the opening wicket before losing their way. Ravinder Jadeja was the other main scorer with 23.

Brief scores:
Kochi Tuskers Kerala 125-9 in 20 overs (M. Klinger 24, R. Jadeja 23, B. McCullum 22; S. Aravind 2-20, D. Vettori 2-24) lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore 128-1 in 13.1 overs (T. Dilshan 52 not out, C. Gayle 44, V. Kohli 27 not out) by nine wickets.