Royal Challengers Bangalore had turned around their campaign, thanks mainly to the dynamic duo of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. However, they faced a particularly stern test as Gautam Gambhir’s Kolkata Knightriders awaited them at the Eden Gardens.
Lady luck finally smiled on Kohli as he won the toss and opted to chase in the must-win contest. An efficient top-order partnership between Gambhir and Manish Pandey placed KKR in a strong position before a flurry of wickets helped RCB pull things back. However, Andre Russell flexed his muscles to power his side to a formidable total on a turning track.
Chris Gayle woke up from his slumber at the right time and began to carve away at the target. When he perished to Sunil Narine, the Kohli – de Villiers show took over and captivated the audience once more as the run-chase was completed with consummate ease.
Let us take a look at the most important statistics from the riveting encounter.
1 – Successful run chases in all IPL matches higher than RCB’s 186 with the loss of only one wicket or less. Delhi Daredevils had chased down 188 by losing only one wicket against Deccan Chargers in 2012.
8 – Number of fifty-plus scores in this IPL for Kohli. This is the most in any season alongside Gayle who also had eight such scores in 2012.
10 – Sixes conceded by Yuzvendra Chahal in this IPL which is the most for any RCB bowler.
10 – Seventy-five plus scores for Kohli in T20s, this year. With still more than six months left in the calendar year, he has already equaled Gayle who had a similar streak in 2011 and 2015.
20 – Run-outs for Gambhir in all T20s which is the equal-most with Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene. The pugnacious left-hander has been run-out a record 14 times in the IPL with three of those coming in this edition.
32 – Runs managed by Gayle from his eight previous T20 innings since the blazing ton against England in the World T20. The burly Jamaican scored more than that with a fiery 49.
44 – Half-centuries for Gambhir in all T20 matches. He has the most fifty-plus scores without a century and is followed by Shoaib Malik with 37 such scores.
58 – Partnership between Russell and Shakib Al Hasan which is the highest for the sixth wicket in this IPL. The impressive fact is that the pair scored those in just 28 deliveries.
185 – Runs compiled by Yusuf Pathan between two dismissals. Aided by a number of not-outs, the attacking batsman had registered scores of 60*, 19*, 63*, 37* before being stumped by Chahal.
200 – Kohli completed his 200th T20 match in Kolkata. The run-machine has scored more than 6224 runs in his career so far at a 40-plus average.
250 – Matches for Gayle in his T20 career. The West Indian opener has scored 8858 runs which is the most in the shortest format with as many as 17 centuries.
600 – Gambhir breached the 600-mark against RCB during his fifty. It is the most any batsman has scored against the franchise and also the highest that the 34-year old has scored against any IPL team.
752 – Highest tally by a batsman in a single IPL season. With still some matches to go, Virat Kohli has sailed past both Gayle (in 2012) and Michael Hussey (in 2013) who were tied at 733.
800 – Runs added in tandem by Kohli and de Villiers in this IPL. They went past the 800-mark during yet another century partnership. In comparison, no other pairing has produced even 700 runs in any T20 tournament.
4000 – Yusuf Pathan went past the 4000-run mark in his T20 career. He has played 210 matches and has 18 fifties to go with one century.
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