RCB back to winning ways

Mohali: Virat Kohli (67 off 53) and AB de Villiers (59 not out off 38) inspired Royal Challengers to a eight-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab here on Saturday.

The duo’s 85-run stand for the second wicket helped RCB chase down the target of 174 with four balls to spare. The victory ended Kohli & Co.’s six-match losing streak this season.

Earlier, Swashbuckling opener Chris Gayle missed a well-deserved century by a whisker, smashing an unbeaten 99 off 64 balls to power Kings XI Punjab to a 173 for four.

The 39-year-old West Indian, who had suffered a back spasm after last match, carried his bat, recording his highest score of this IPL season blasting five sixes and as many as 10 hits to the fence to single-handedly anchor the Punjab innings.

Invited to bat, Gayle stitched a 66-run opening stand off 38 balls with KL Rahul (18) and kept the scoreboard ticking even though he lost partners on the other end at regular intervals. RCB could have dismissed Gayle in the first over itself when he was hit on the leg by Umesh Yadav but Kohli didn’t go for a DRS and the West Indian escaped.

Gayle made RCB pay for the mistake as he hit a four and six off Umesh’s next over, before smashing Navdeep Saini for a boundary.