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Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers continued their sparkling show with the bat to guide Royal Challengers Bangalore to a commanding nine-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders and keep their play-off hopes alive in the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League, in Kolkata, on Monday.
- Scorecard
Chasing a challenging 184 for win on a turning Eden Gardens track, Chris Gayle returned to form to set up the chase with a 31-ball 49 before skipper Kohli and De Villiers posted half-centuries each in a 115-run unbroken second wicket partnership off just 68 balls to take RCB to a convincing win with eight balls to spare.
It was the fifth hundred plus run stand between Kohli and de Villiers in this year's IPL.
Continuing his sensational batting form in this year's IPL, Kohli posted an unbeaten 75 off 51 balls while de Villiers remained not out on 59 off 31 balls as the duo carried forward from where they left against Gujarat Lions in their last match.
Kohli, who batted with a split webbing on his left hand, completed his half-century in 37 balls and also broke the record for the most runs in an IPL season, surpassing Gayle's 733 as RCB moved to fifth position in the standings with 12 points from as many matches to remain in the hunt.
Kohli never looked back after he was dropped at 32 by his counterpart Gautam Gambhir at point.
Opening the batting, Gayle crawled to one run from four balls before he took the charge with back-to-back fours off Morne Morkel in the second over. He continued his aggression against fellow
Jamaican Andre Russell, smashing him for two successive sixes in the following over.
Gambhir was quick to introduce Sunil Narine into the attack in the fifth over but the result was no different as Gayle effortlessly cleared the boundaries with his brute force.
Gayle was beaten once during his quickfire innings when he failed to read the sharp away turn of Chawla but he bounced back quickly to whack the leg-spinner over long-on in what seemed a mis-hit but had enough power to clear the long-on rope.
Just when RCB were running away with the game, KKR struck with the key wicket of Gayle, who was trapped leg before wicket by Narine.
But Kohli and de Villiers ensured that the scoreboard kept ticking at a good rate as they kept hitting boundaries at regular intervals to take RCB to 91 for one in 10 overs.
Gambhir deployed an all-spin attack in the middle overs but Kohli looked completely at ease as he along with de Villiers picked from where they had left in their record 229-run partnership against Gujarat Lions in the last match to seal an easy win.
RCB will next face Kings XI Punjab at home on May 1 and then travel to Raipur to face Delhi Daredevils on May 22. The Kohli-led side need to win both their remaining matches to seal a play-off berth.
KKR, on the other hand, still continue to hold the second spot with 14 points from 12 games. They next travel to Kanpur to face Gujarat Lions on May 19 and will conclude their league campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 22.
Earlier, captain Gautam Gambhir and Manish Pandey struck fine half-centuries before Andre Russell played a late cameo to guide Kolkata Knight Riders to 183 for five.
Put into bat, KKR lost an early wicket when Iqbal Abdulla had Robin Uthappa caught and bowled for two, in the third over of the innings. The KKR opener played against the spin, got a leading
edge and Abdulla took a brilliant one handed diving catch diving towards his left off his own bowling.
But RCB's bowling attack failed to make further inroads as Gambhir and Uthappa hit half-centuries to keep the scoreboard moving at a good rate in the middle overs. Gambhir hit a fluent 51 from 35 balls, while Pandey attacked right from the start to smash 50 from 35 balls as the duo put on a 76-run stand from 49 balls for the second wicket.
While it was Gambhir's fifth fifty this season and a record 31st in the tournament, Pandey got back among the runs to register second half-century.
But poor coordination in running between the wickets cost Gambhir his wicket as he was run out in the 11th over. That proved to be a turning point as KKR, who were being 87 for one at one stage, slipped to 125 for five in 15.2 overs, losing four wickets within a span of 29 balls.
Left-arm pacer Sreenath Aravind struck in successive overs with the wickets of Pandey and Suryakumar Yadav, while Yusuf Pathan was stumped off Yuzvendra Chahal's bowling.
However, Russell revived KKR's innings as he slammed quickfire 39 not out from 19 balls, with three sixes and two boundaries and was involved in an unbroken 58 run stand off 30 balls with Shakib Al Hasan, who was unbeaten on 18.
RCB skipper Virat Kohli had an injury scare while attempting a catch in the 17th over when he appeared to have split the webbing of his left hand as he went off the field but only to return to the field soon.