After the loss against Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore needed wins from all their remaining games. Gujarat Lions were in a comfortable second position and just one win shy of their playoff qualification. Virat Kohli once again lost the toss and RCB were put to bat first.

The game began with Chris Gayle getting dismissed for a single-digit score. The duo of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers started off slowly by their standards as RCB’s score read 81-1 in 11 overs. But just when you thought this was going to be a slow game, all hell broke loose as the next 9 overs were filled with batting carnage like you have never seen before. The two showcased one of the best and highest partnerships ever in the history of T20 cricket. It was AB who started with the onslaught as he raced to his century off just 43 balls, which is the fastest 100 this IPL and fifth fastest overall. Once de Villiers reached his landmark, it was Kohli’s turn to entertain the crowd with some masterful strokeplay as he destroyed the Gujarat bowling line up. He clobbered 30 runs off the 19th over to leave Shivil Kaushik clueless on what to bowl and where. The two put on a 229 run-stand as Virat Kohli became the only player to score three hundred’s this IPL as they took RCB’s total to 248 which is the second highest total in IPL.

Gujarat Lions started slowly and steadily, but they couldn’t spare time relaxing as the required run rate rushed towards 15. Both the openers looking to accelerate the game, perished within the 5 over mark. With Suresh Raina not playing the game, the task seemed a bit farfetched. The Lions hopes were crushed when Jordan sent back Dinesh Karthik and Ravindra Jadeja off back to back deliveries. RCB kept pegging wickets at regular intervals to hand GL the biggest loss in the history of IPL. It will be tough for the Gujarat Lions to overcome this loss as we move to the business end of IPL.