Bengaluru: AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli yesterday orchestrated a mayhem by scoring magnificent centuries as Royal Challengers Bangalore inflicted a crushing 144-run defeat on league leaders Gujarat Lions in the Indian Premier League.
It was the biggest ever victory in the history of Indian Premier League.
Batting first, RCB plundered a massive 248 for three, courtesy of De Villiers’s 129 not out and an equally attractive 109 by Kohli with records falling like ninepins.
Having been deflated in the first session itself, Gujarat Lions capitulated to a meagre 104 all out in 18.4 overs with Chris Jordan picking up four for 11 runs in three overs and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal claiming three wickets for 19 runs in four overs.
With 10 points from 11 games and a positive net run-rate of +0.627, RCB will fancy their chances of sneaking in as the third or fourth team into the play-offs by winning all their remaining three games.
While this is the second highest team score in the history of IPL behind RCB’s 263 for five against Pune Warriors, the Kohli-De Villiers combine eclipsed its own partnership record by adding 229 runs in just 16 overs.
The previous best was 215 against Mumbai Indians during the last edition. Kohli also became the first player in the history of IPL to score two centuries against the same opponents in one edition of the league.
De Villiers smashed a scintillating unbeaten 129 off 52 balls with 10 fours and 12 maximums while Kohli, en route his third hundred in a single edition of IPL, hit a brilliant 109 off 55 balls with the help of five fours and eight sixes.
De Villiers, whose 43-ball century was the fifth fastest in IPL, scored the maximum number of sixes in an innings by any individual batsman.
In all, the duo hit an astounding 20 sixes compared to 15 fours.
The start was not that great for RCB as an out-of-touch Chris Gayle (6) played on to a Dhawal Kulkarni delivery.
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