Swashbuckling West Indies opener Chris Gayle smashed a blistering half-century before Yuzvendra Chahal returned with a three-wicket haul as Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Gujarat Lions by 21 runs in their IPL encounter here today.
Gayle slammed a 38-ball 77-run innings, while skipper Virat Kohli produced a superb 50-ball 64 to guide RCB to a massive 213-2 after Gujarat skipper Suresh Raina won the toss and elected to field.
Opener Brendon McCullum then played a superb 72-run off 44-ball innings, studded with two fours and seven sixes but he didn't get the support from the other end as RCB restricted the Lions to 192-7 to snap their three-game losing streak.
Yuzvendra Chahal (3/31) was the pick of the bowlers for RCB as he picked up three crucial wickets -- Dwayne Smith (1), Suresh Raina (23) and McCullum -- in his four overs to derail Gujarat's runchase.
Chasing 214 to win, Gujarat lost their opening batsman Smith early when he was caught at the boundary line by Mandeep Singh off Chahal's bowling at deep square-leg.
Skipper Raina then slammed a quick-fire 8-ball 23 which included two fours and two sixes before becoming the second wicket of Chahal.
Coming down the pitch, Raina tried to play a sweep shot which went straight to Shane Watson at short fine leg.
McCullum (72) and Aaron Finch (19) then stitched a 66-run innings off 34 balls for the third wicket to take Gujarat across the 100-mark in 10th over.
McCullum also added 31 off 22 balls with Ravindra Jadeja (23) before becoming the third victim of Chahal in the 15th over as Lions looked down the barrel.
Jadeja then was run-out after a mix-up with new batsman Ishan Kishan in the 18th over. Kishan then hit a 16-ball 39, laced with four sixes and two four but it was too late in the end.
Earlier, Chris Gayle signalled his return to form with a 38-ball 77 to help Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) post a mammoth 213/2 against Gujarat Lions in an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 match at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Tuesday.
Put into bat, the Royal Challengers got off to a thunderous start with Gayle and skipper Virat Kohli (64) putting on 122 runs in 13 overs as the Gujarat bowlers failed to find an answer to the onslaught.
Kedar Jadhav (38 not out of 16 balls) and Travis Head (30 not out of 16) then finished off the proceedings in style with a 54-run unbeaten third wicket stand.
Bangalore had included Gayle and Travis in place of the injured duo of AB de Villiers and Samuel Badree.
Coming into the match, just 3 runs short of becoming the first batsman to get 10,000 T20 runs, Gayle reached the landmark slicing a good length delivery from pacer Basil Thampi through point down to third man for a single.
There was no looking back from there on as the West Indian turned on the heat, dealing mostly in fours and sixes.
The 37-year-old met out special treatment to left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, milking him for 21 runs in his very first over before getting to his first half century of the season off a mammoth 104-metre six from chinaman Shivil Kaushik.
There was no stopping the southpaw, who took his West Indian teammate Dwayne Smith to the cleaners for two massive sixes as RCB crossed the 100-run mark in the 11th over.
Sensing the danger, Gujarat skipper Suresh Raina threw the ball to his most economical bowler Thampi and the Kerala pacer delivered on the third ball of his new spell.
For the first time in his innings, Gayle, who by now had struck five boundaries and seven massive sixes, looked uncomfortable with Thampi's yorkers.
On the second ball of the over, Thampi got one right on the blockhole only for Gayle to play it safely before bowling another the next ball to bring the West Indian's downfall.
Kohli, who till now was enjoying Gayle's power hitting from the other end, got down to business to get to his second half century of this year's IPL.
The 28-year-old looked good with his trademark drives and cuts to raise a 37-run second wicket stand with Head before pacer Dhawal Kulkarni's slower delivery did the trick for the home side.
Kohli, who had faced 50 balls and struck seven boundaries and a six, failed to generate pace and hole out to Smith at deep midwicket.
The captain's dismissal brought in an in-form Jadhav, who grabbed the opportunity with both hands. He showed no mercy on the bowlers, dispatching them out of the park on two occasions besides hitting five fours as the visitors milked 35 runs from the final two overs.
