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Gayle makes the difference in RCB’s sixth consecutive win

JAIPUR - Chris Gayle (70) played another electrifying knock and guided Royal Challengers Bangalore to a comfortable nine-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League here Wednesday. The Challengers made short work of the Royal’s 146 for six, chasing it down with 18 balls to spare.

Gayle was at his brutal best and paired up with Tillakaratne Dilshan (38) and then stand-in captain Virat Kohli (39) to take the Challengers to their sixth consecutive win in the tournament. Sreenath Aravind did his bit with the ball to pick up three Rajasthan wickets for 45 runs.

The opposition captain Shane Warne had a forgettable last match at home as he dropped the destructive Gayle in the fourth over. The Royal’s fortress was breached yet again with two losses in as many matches.

The Challengers, who seem to be on a roll, have now moved to the second spot in the points table and look set to finish within the top two qualifying spots. They now have 15 points from 11 games while the Royals are placed fifth with 11 points from 12 games.

The writing was on the wall when the destructive Gayle along with Dilshan collected 50 runs from the first five overs. Gayle continued his amazing run in the tournament and toyed with the Royal’s bowling attack. The maverick batsman joined the squad in the middle of the tournament but has now raced to become the second highest-run getter in the tournament. He has amassed 398 runs in six games and it is only a matter of time before he surpasses the injured Virender Sehwag (424 runs), who got the runs in eleven matches.

The West Indian hit four towering sixes in his 44-ball knock and stayed till the end to take the team home. The story, however, would have been a lot different had Warne caught Gayle in the fourth over, when he was on just 13.

The Royals, put into bat, were cruising at one stage with Rahul Dravid (37) and Shane Watson (34) setting a 73-run stand for the first wicket. But the momentum soon shifted in favour of the Challengers as Aravind sent the openers packing within a space of three deliveries.

Rahane (17), Johan Botha (19) and Ross Taylor (13) fell after getting their eye in. That put the brakes on the scoring rate and from there on, the Royals never looked like breaking the 150-run barrier.