Gayle lead RCB to enormous win

Royal Challengers Bangalore 206 for 6 (Gayle 86) strike Somerset 155 for 6 (Trego 58, Arvind 2-23, Vettori 2-25) by 51 runs

After guiding Royal Challengers Bangalore to a severe victory, Chris Gayle exposed that he found it hard to get going during the early part of his knock.

Gayle scored 86 off 46 balls, his 14th fifty in Twenty20.

"I am very happy with my presentation. It was a key game for us. It wasn't the most excellent of starts as it was a bit hard to bat on originally. In the end, I got shut to playing 20 overs which was good for me," the big-bodied Jamaican said at the post-match appearance ceremony.

Gayle said that the general deliberations were concerning one of the top batsmen trying to bat as many overs as possible.

"No one got a 50 in the first two games. We had a conversation. So whosoever got in this game was asked to carry on. Hopefully, we can win the next one with a big margin as well."

RCB captain Daniel Vettori said that this win was accurately what the doctor ordered.

"It's what we wanted to do. We needed a big one to give ourselves a chance. Gayle showed what a good player he is during the IPL, and again in this one. We were still battling, however, with the way Somerset started," Vettori said.

Although he wasn't happy with his bowlers' presentation during the KKR game, he said that the win was "acceptable."

"I thought 185 were par-score on this track and we went further than that. We knew that chase this target would be tough."

Somerset captain Alfonso Thomas said that they could have gone with an off-spinner rather than leaving with three left-arm spinners whcih made their attack look unsurprising.

"We could have done away with an off-spinner, but attractive nothing away from Chris, he pace his innings nicely," he said.

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Bangalore hardback IPL final spot

Royal Challengers Bangalore set up an all southern final against the Chennai Super Kings after a 43-run IPL play-off win over Mumbai Indians.

Chris Gayle was the star yet again, smash 89 off 46 balls in a 113-run opening stand with Mayank Agarwal (41) to lead Bangalore to 185 for four.

In reply, Mumbai unsuccessful to get going in spite of a valiant 40 from skipper Sachin Tendulkar, as his complement Daniel Vettori picked up figures of three for 19.

Sreenath Aravind and Jamaluddin Mohammad chip in with two wickets each as Mumbai ended well short on 142 for eight, sending Bangalore to their second IPL final.

Bangalore was put into bat and it was Gayle's show for most of the first innings, which he started by defeat 20 off the first over before Agarwal joined in.

The West Indian reach 52 in 27 balls, but Agarwal could not make the most of a drop chance, caught by Rohit Sharma off Kieron Pollard.

Gayle carried on in spite of and was only rob of a century by James Franklin's superb running catch as Mumbai fight back with two more wickets to trash hopes of a 200-plus score.

Still, AB de Villiers (21) and Saurabh Tiwary (eight) managed 28 jointly inside the last four overs to make bigger Bangalore's total.

And they put Mumbai under early force in the chase, Aravind dismiss opener Aiden Blizzard (10) and pinch-hitter Harbhajan Singh (13).

Tendulkar had reserved his nerve so far and built 40 off 24 balls but was left stumped off Jamaluddin and Bangalore took additional control as Vettori got his treble in successive overs approximately the halfway mark.

Franklin failed to build on his start and was bowled by Zaheer Khan before Malinga's departure to Jamaluddin, with the 68 necessary off 18 deliveries proving impossible in the end.

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IPL Preview: Bangalore vs. Chennai

Shielding champions Chennai Super Kings get on Royal Challengers Bangalore in what assure to be an absorbing first IPL playoff match in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Chennai vs. Bangalore

IPL Overall

Chennai Super Kings contain won 35 and lost 24 out of 60 played - success % 59.16 (Tied 1).

Bangalore has won 30 and lost 29 out of 59 contests - success % 50.84.

IPL - Chennai vs. Bangalore - Head to Head

Bangalore has won 5 and lost 4 out of nine played next to Chennai - success % 55.55.

IPL 2011

Bangalore, with 19 points (Played: 14, Won: 9 and Lost: 4 Abandoned: 1) are at the top in the Points Table.

Chennai, with eighteen points (Played: 14, Won: 9 and Lost: 5) are placed second in the Points Table.

Approaching milestones

- Abraham de Villiers (933) requires 67 runs to complete his 1,000 runs in the IPL.

- Mahendra Singh Dhoni (1374) needs 26 runs to complete 1400 runs in the IPL.

- Chris Gayle (974) requires 26 runs to complete 1000 runs in the IPL.

- Suresh Raina (1732) requires 68 runs to complete 1800 runs in the IPL.

- Albie Morkel (56) needs four wickets to complete his 60 wickets in the IPL.

- Gayle (38) requires just two sixes to become the first batsman to register 40 sixes in the IPL.

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