However, Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum got Gujarat off to a superb start and after they departed, Dinesh Karthik (50 not out) guided the hosts to victory with three balls to spare. However, there was still time for McCullum to hit Kane Richardson for a further two fours and two maximums as the Lions reached 72-1 after six. There is a lot of pressure to select the right team, especially when you have to choose four foreign players, who have done well for their countries.
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McCullum fell in the ninth over to a fine delivery from chinaman bowler Tabraiz Shamsi who had the batsman caught and bowled. Gujarat skipper Suresh Raina then stabilised the chase with Karthik as they took the total to 136/2 after 15 overs, which left them to score 45 more in the final five.
“Maybe we can look to bring in (all-rounder) Albie Morkel or Mitch Marsh in the next game”. Richardson dropped Karthik off his own bowling in the next over, which costs RCB dear in the end.
Dhawal Kulkarni and Pravin Tambe picked up a wicket each for Gujarat.
Kohli and AB De Villiers are in terrific form and RCB’s batting would rely heavily on these two. Kohli-de Villiers put on another good stand – 51 runs for the second wicket in six overs.
Earlier, Kohli struck his maiden T20 century as he carried his bat through the innings with an unbeaten 100 off 63 balls as RCB scored 180 for 2 after electing to bat. Rahane set it up for his all-rounders with another typical fifty. Rahul then completed his maiden IPL fifty off 34 balls in the penultimate over. On a wicket that had some assistance for the slower bowlers, Shakib, Narine and Chawla bowled six overs between them in the first ten, and making optimum use of the pitch, they kept Pune on a tight leash and the hosts could manage only a touch above run-a-ball in the first half of their innings. Pune have lost their three matches out of four.
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Jadeja (12) was caught behind by a brilliant one-handed catch from Rahul with just three needed, leaving it to Dwayne Bravo to hit the winnings runs straight down the ground.
