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Indian T20 League 2016

Scorecard - 19th Match, Gujarat vs Bangalore at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot, India (24 Apr 2016)

Bangalore

180/2 (20) RR:9

Gujarat won by 6 wkts

MOM: Virat Kohli
Gujarat

182/4 (19.3) RR:9.33

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20.0 - Dwayne Bravo to Kohli, FOUR, Kohli certainly writes his own scripts. Kohli crunches his first T20 League century off the final ball of the innings. He holds his arms aloft after removing his helmet and hugs KL Rahul. He deservedly gets the applause from his teammates. The smile on his face shows that he really enjoyed playing that knock. He is surely pumped up. Even though, he is playing for the opposition, the crowd too roars in delight. Very full and just outside off, Kohli backed away and sliced it over backward point for a boundary

19.5 - Dwayne Bravo to Kohli, FOUR, holy! Moly! Can Kohli crack a century? Here he waltzes down the track, and hammers this full toss straight down the ground for a boundary

18.5 - D Kulkarni to Kohli, FOUR, this time, Kohli backs away after using his feet and slaps it to the extra cover boundary. The stand now is worth 100

16.5 - P Kumar to Rahul, FOUR, Rahul makes room, dances down the track, opens the blade to drill a full toss to sweeper cover. It had enough legs to cross the boundary rope

16.4 - P Kumar to Rahul, FOUR, can I call Rahul the wristy wizard for that shot? Low full toss from Praveen, Rahul just whips it to the mid-wicket fence. These full tosses are not working for sure

16.1 - P Kumar to Kohli, FOUR, low full toss from Praveen, Kohli uses his feet and whips it to McCullum at long-on who fumbles under pressure and that results in a boundary

14.4 - Dwayne Bravo to Kohli, FOUR, the 50-run stand between the two is up now. These slower ones are becoming predictable. Kohli shows deft touch to place a slower one wide of the diving short third man fielder and into the fence

12.2 - Dwayne Bravo to Rahul, FOUR, Bravo tries one of those slow in-dipping slower ones, but does not get the dip on it. Rahul cracks the drive to bisect the gap through cover and mid-off with needlepoint precison. No need to run for those. It was creamed by him

9.4 - Tambe to Kohli, FOUR, Kohli beat two fielders in the deep with clockwork precision there. Kohli sinks on one knee and slog-sweeps it to the deep mid-wicket fence. Another boundary for the Indian captain

8.4 - Jadeja to Rahul, FOUR, this time, Rahul aims to reverse sweep, but ekes out a top-edge that goes over the slip fielder and into the third man fence

5.5 - Jakati to de Villiers, FOUR, de Villiers follows up Kohli with a sparkling drive. Flatter delivery and on off-stump, de Villiers goes inside-out and drives it to the sweeper cover boundary. Splendid spread of run-scoring on display

5.1 - Jakati to Kohli, FOUR, slightly shorter in length and on the stumps, Kohli punches it past the diving cover fielder and no need to run for those. Kohli got on top of the bounce to play that stroke

4.2 - Tambe to Kohli, FOUR, Kohli is in prime form. Flatter delivery and on off-stump, Kohli essays the punchy-drive and it rockets to the extra cover fence. He is at his glorious best when he plays those drives through the cover-region

4.1 - Tambe to Kohli, FOUR, lovely use of the crease by Kohli. The straighter one from Tambe, Kohli uses the inside-out drive and the ball runs away to the deep extra cover boundary. Bravo ran around the circumference and tried to get a boot in to stop the four, but to no avail

3.4 - D Kulkarni to de Villiers, FOUR, the first boundary off the afternoon for the South African maestro! Again offered with width, de Villiers cracks the cut past the diving fielder at cover-point (Raina). He gets a hand on it, but that was such a ferocious cut shot that it had enough legs to race away to the fence

3.0 - P Kumar to Kohli, FOUR, good length delivery and just outside off, Kohli dances down the track and drives it to the extra cover fence. Nice timing and placement from him there

2.5 - P Kumar to Kohli, FOUR, quality shot by Kohli! He camps on the back foot and hammers the cut to the deep backward point fence. It came right off the screws

1.1 - D Kulkarni to Watson, FOUR, too straight from Kulkarni, Watson flicks it to the left of the fielder at deep mid-wicket, who puts in a desperate dive, but can't succeed in his endeavour

19.4 - Dwayne Bravo to Kohli, SIX, Kohli, though, gives a fitting riposte by depositing a very full ball over the mid-wicket fence. He is in the nervous 90s now

16.0 - D Kulkarni to Rahul, SIX, Rahul's enterprising knock might surprise a few. But those few who watch domestic cricket regularly know that he can lift the tempo. Rahul backs away and lofts it over long-off. It goes all the way

15.5 - D Kulkarni to Rahul, SIX, the slower short one from Kulkarni, Rahul picks it from the hand and pulls it over mid-wicket. When the leather met the willow, it gave an inkling that it came right off the screws

13.2 - Jakati to Rahul, SIX, Rahul has shown on occasions in domestic cricket that he has an extra gear. It is hard to forget his sumptuous knock for South Zone against Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy in 2014, when he unfurled a series of crackerjack shots. Here he is showing glimpses of it. Rahul uses his reach to charge down the track, takes it on the half-volley and and lofts it straight down the ground for a maximum

7.4 - Tambe to de Villiers, out Caught by Raina!! Soft dismissal after essaying a promising knock. de Villiers cracks the inside-out drive to a flatter delivery, Raina at cover keeps his eyes on the ball and takes the catch by reverse-cupping it and then tumbles backwards. Both de Villiers and Kohli were providing the money's worth to fans at the stadium. However, de Villiers now has to go back to the hutch. de Villiers c Raina b Tambe 20(16) [4s-2]

1.4 - D Kulkarni to Watson, out Caught by Jadeja!! Kulkarni has picked up the prized scalp of Watson with a slower one. It was a skier, but Jadeja kept his eyes on the ball all the way and then grabbed the catch with both hands. Good length ball and just outside off, Watson aims to butcher it over the infield on the off-side, but gets it off the toe-end and Jadeja at cover-point takes it. Watson c Jadeja b D Kulkarni 6(6) [4s-1]

17.5 - Dwayne Bravo to Kohli, 2 runs, Andrew Tye makes a valiant effort by diving forward to pouch a catch at long-on, but it falls just in front of him. Kohli lifts a slower one to long-on, where Tye's gallant piece of fielding does not meet with success

18.2 - D Kulkarni to Rahul, 1 run, Rahul has grabbed the opportunity to crack his maiden T20 League fifty. He gets a generous round of applause from his team in the dug-out. Rahul pushes it to long-on. It was a length delivery from Kulkarni

13.4 - Jakati to Kohli, 2 runs, shorter in length, Kohli waits for it and cuts it to sweeper cover. He hustles across for the second run. With it, Kohli also cracks another fifty in the T20 League

7.2 - Tambe to de Villiers, 1 run, shorter in length, de Villiers cuts it square on the off-side. There was a chunk of dust coming out when de Villiers was beaten in the last over. Good signs for BLR's spinners?

2.2 - P Kumar to Kohli, 1 run, good running between the wickets help the duo to scamper across for a quick single. Kohli pats it to cover-point and sets off, his partner responds and makes it

0.5 - P Kumar to Watson, 1 run, if Dwayne Smith at mid-on had effected a direct-hit that would have been curtains for Watson. Fortunately for him, he missed. Watson pushes it to mid-on and hares down to the other end. Smith picks up the ball quickly and flings in a throw, but can't hit the stumps. Watson was a goner

19.3 - Watson to Dwayne Bravo, FOUR, game over. BLR lose this, despite winning the toss. Despite KL Rahul's maiden T20 League fifty. Despite Kohli's sparkling first ever T20 ton. How? Beyond me. Kohli reckoned this was 15-20 runs above par, and so did I, but this pitch is loyal to its (makeshift) masters. Never slowed up, allowing easy runs that were certainly helped by some dross bowling. Coming to the ball, it wasn't a bad one. Fullish but Bravo is Bravo. Gets under it and tonks it through long-on - places it straight enough to beat the effort in the deep. Poor Kohli, someone give him a hug. How symbolic is it to get a ton only to lose the match, on Sachin's birthday? Bad bowling line-ups follow Indian legends, no?

19.0 - I Abdulla to D Karthik, FOUR, a sandwich over. Two bad balls containing four run-saving darts. A full toss, can you believe it? Karthik thumps it over Abdulla's head with a shimmy and gets the all-important boundary. Brings the equation down to 7 runs off the last over

18.1 - I Abdulla to D Karthik, FOUR, was always the danger. Turning a touch outside off, Karthik shuffles across and kneels to pick it up with a sweep over short fine leg

13.4 - Watson to Raina, FOUR, shot! Full on the pads, met with a crossed bat and kilos of wrists to swat it away through backward square leg

11.5 - Kane Richardson to Raina, FOUR, it's beyond AB too. That good. Length ball and Raina read the length early, backed away and thumped it with a punch through mid-off. That ball was on a scooter

10.4 - Tabraiz Shamsi to Raina, FOUR, Raina! Skips out of the crease, meets this legbreak and lofts it down the ground

9.3 - Watson to D Karthik, FOUR, wow. That's a helicopter cut. Short enough and with width, Karthik cocked his wrists and thrashed it over backward point

8.1 - Tabraiz Shamsi to Brendon McCullum, FOUR, there's a slip for the googly but it doesn't matter. This is a full toss. A filthy one on the pads, McCullum gets low and sweeps the pants off it. Through mid-wicket

6.0 - Kane Richardson to Brendon McCullum, FOUR, he can be delicate too. Not all power. A low full toss has been met with a straight bat and caressed past the bowler. Poor soul. 25 runs off this over to cap off the powerplay. Lesson: look away when the captain looks at you to bowl the last over of the powerplay

5.4 - Kane Richardson to Brendon McCullum, FOUR, Richardson can't help it. Nobody can. You would bang it short seeing the batsman charging down and what does Brendon McCullum do? Adjusts, wields his bat across the line and scythes it over deep mid-wicket

4.2 - Watson to Brendon McCullum, FOUR, he heard me. He did, believe me. One step, two step and takes the ball on the up to drill it past the stumps. Wow

3.4 - I Abdulla to Dwayne Smith, FOUR, bowls it very full and a little wide, Smith uses his long reach (and handle and hands) to reach out and squeezes out a drive. Tailors it through the point-cover arc

3.2 - I Abdulla to Dwayne Smith, FOUR, Smith has swagger and strong bottom hand. Not a bad ball at all. Quick and right upto him, Smith crouches and heaves it over mid-on

2.2 - Chahal to Dwayne Smith, no ball, FOUR, poor stuff. From the Umpire Bruce Oxenford. Straightens on leg-stump, Smith swivels and pull-sweeps it through fine leg. Chahal had an iota of his heel behind the line but I am not the umpire. Free-hit coming up

1.4 - Kane Richardson to Brendon McCullum, FOUR, that's been rightly put into the fine leg dustbin. Down leg, enough room to swivel and swat it past a diving short fine

16.2 - I Abdulla to Jadeja, SIX, that's why. Left the last ball for this. Gets it quick again outside off, fetches it with a bat swing and hammers it over deep mid-wicket. Huge. Can a stadium BE any louder?

5.5 - Kane Richardson to Brendon McCullum, SIX, this has been projectiled into its orbit. Richardson bowls it full to compensate, McCullum's experience told him to crouch and murder it with a slog. Backed away to give him the room to swing and the rest is history

5.3 - Kane Richardson to Brendon McCullum, SIX, shortish ball near the mid-riff and McCullum swivels to smoke a pull over deep backward square leg. Did the ball bleed yet?

2.2 - Chahal to Dwayne Smith, SIX, that's a free-for-all buffet. Short googly, Smith backs away, gets under in and slogs it over mid-wicket with disdain

1.2 - Kane Richardson to Dwayne Smith, SIX, Smith has arrived. Murders this fuller length delivery with a brutal hoick. Cross seamer, flat foot, doesn't matter. Got across, swung arms and butchered it over long-on

19.2 - Watson to Jadeja, out Caught by Rahul!! Rahul hasn't given up. Takes a scorcher behind the stumps to send Jadeja back and then celebrates letting his flying hair-mane sail. Shortish off-cutter outside off, was an easy dab to third man. Jadeja instead plays it finer and Rahul dives full length sideways to grab it with one hand. A wicket too late? Jadeja c Rahul b Watson 12(10) [6s-1]

15.4 - Chahal to Raina, out Caught by I Abdulla!! Chahal is smart and Raina is not. Lets out a shimmy quite early and gives Chahal the chance to fire it flat and further outside off. Raina has to reach out on the loft downtown, gets it off the toe-end and balloons it to long-off. Raina c I Abdulla b Chahal 28(24) [4s-3]

8.2 - Tabraiz Shamsi to Brendon McCullum, out Caught&Bowled!! Gets it to pitch and see what happens. Fires the wrong 'un on leg-stump, holds in the pitch too as McCullum looked to nudge it into the leg-side and a leading edge pops safely back to Tabraiz Shamsi. This is a lifeline for Bangalore, McBomb looked in a mood to explode. Well, almost did. Brendon McCullum c and b Tabraiz Shamsi 42(24) [4s-5 6s-2]

5.2 - Kane Richardson to Dwayne Smith, out Caught by de Villiers!! He doesn't drop them, this de Villiers. An embarrassingly soft dismissal this. Bowled with a cross seam, Smith meets this off-pace delivery with an intentional pick-up flick and it carries all the way to long-on. Intended a stylish chipped single over mid-on, maybe, but was beaten by the pace, played early and ended up chipping it all the way. Dwayne Smith c de Villiers b Kane Richardson 32(21) [4s-3 6s-2]

19.1 - Watson to D Karthik, 1 run, a potential match-winning fity this. Gets a full toss as a gift, can't butcher it but puts enough in this loft to long-off to get a single

15.1 - Chahal to Raina, 1 run, 50-run partnership now. Chahal slings it wide of off, Raina pokes across and pushes it to deep cover