BANGALORE, India, CMC – Big-hitting Chris Gayle suffered a rare failure, mystery spinner Sunil Narine was at his brilliant best while all-rounders Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo came up with last-over heroics as five West Indies players went on show in the Indian Premier League here yesterday.
Gayle, the leading run-getter in the IPL, managed just six as Royal Challengers Bangalore went down by five wickets to Mumbai Indians, thanks to Pollard’s fireworks.
The strongly built right-hander, who finished unbeaten on 52, smashed a six and two fours off the last over bowled by Gayle as Mumbai, requiring 14 from the last over, reached their target of 171 with two balls remaining.
In Kolkata, Bravo (11 not out) launched the final delivery of the game for six to fire Chennai Super Kings to a dramatic five-wicket win over the Knight Riders, ending on 160 for five from their 20 overs.
Sent in to bat at their home M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Royal Challengers tallied 171 for six, with Mayank Agarwal top-scoring with 64 and Tillakaratne Dishan getting 47.
Gayle, entering the match with four half-centuries in his previous five innings, had one scoring shot – a six over long-on – before going bowled off the inside edge off seamer Munaf Patel in the third over.
Indian batsman Ambati Rayudu then stroked a fine, unbeaten 81 off 54 balls to lay the groundwork for Mumbai’s chase.
When Windies all-rounder Dwayne Smith went for six, Mumbai were struggling at 51 for five in the ninth over but Rayudu and Pollard put on an unbroken 122 for the sixth wicket to revive their side.
With Mumbai still short in the last over, Pollard cracked the second ball from Gayle over mid-wicket, edged the third for four to third man before pulling the fourth through mid-wicket for another boundary, to seal victory.
Pollard faced 31 balls and struck three fours and two sixes.
At Eden Gardens, opener Gautam Gambhir hit a top score of 62 to help hosts Knight Riders to 158 for six after they were sent in.
In reply, Chennai were bogged down by the superb Narine whose four overs cost a measly 14 runs and yielded two wickets.
Openers Mike Hussey (56) and Suresh Raina (36) posted 97 for the first wicket but Narine entered the attack to remove both and haul KKR back into the contest.
When captain MS Dhoni was dismissed for 28 off the second ball of the final over with seven runs required, Bravo covered himself in glory by smashing seamer Rajat Bhatia’s full toss over long-on for the maximum.
