Royal Challengers Bangalore 215-1 (Chris Gayle 128*, Virat Kohli 73*, Varun Aaron 1-38) beat Delhi Daredevils 194-9 (Ross Taylor 55, Venugopal Rao 36, Prasanth Prameswaran 3-30) by 21 runs.

Chris Gayle plundered unbeaten ton as the skipper Virat Kohli sparkled timely and they set a challenging target for Delhi Daredevils who were unable to grasp that.

Royal Challengers Bangalore piled up 215 runs for the loss of just one wicket in the programmed 20 overs as Delhi Daredevils were restricted to 194 with only one wicket in hand.

Chris Gayle (Royal Challengers Bangalore) was undoubtedly declared ‘Player of the match’ for his thrilling knock of unbeaten 128 off just 62 balls.

The 67^th match of the Indian Premier League 2012 was played on Thursday, May 17, 2012 at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.

Earlier, the stand in captain of Delhi Daredevils, Mahela Jayawardene, won the toss and opted to field first. Royal Chalengers Bangalore lost their first wicket for 11 runs when the skipper, Virat Kohli joined in with Chris Gayle who scored back to back boundaries in the third over. Kohli decided to attack as well, posted two fours each in the third and fourth overs and the first fifty of the innings was scored in the seventh over.

The bowlers of Delhi Daredevils were punished at will by both batsmen frequently, especially Gayle was unstoppable and achieved his fifty in the 13^th over. He punished Irfan Pathan for three sixes in the next over and carried on his thundering form by dispatching another three sixes in the 16^th over off Pawan Negi. Gayle smashed his third century of the IPL 2012 on the first ball of the 17^th over and Kohli also accomplished his fifty in the same over.

The duo showered boundaries at will and the bowlers remained at their mercy until the end of the 20^th over. Chris Gayle was at the crease with 128 off 62 mere balls with 13 glorious sixes and 7 fours as Virat Kohli was at the other end for 73 off 53 deliveries comprising 1 six and 9 fours as Royal Challengers Bangalore amassed 215 runs with 9 wickets in hand.

Mahela Jayawardene utilised six bowlers but the only wicket was taken by Varun Aaron.

Delhi Daredevils lost the important wicket of the hard hitting David Warner at 17 when Venugopal Rao associated with Unmukt Chand in the centre. They accepted the challenge and collected 15 runs in the fourth over with 4 fours and Chand started off with a six on the first ball of the fifth over but lost his wicket on the very next delivery for 18. The second wicket fell at 45 and Jayawardene was gone after the addition of 24 runs in the total at his individual contribution of 9 runs as Ross Taylor took guards in the centre and joined with Venugopal Rao.

They accumulated 13 runs in the 9^th over with a couple of fours and Taylor hit two fours and a six in the next two overs as the first hundred of the innings appeared on the board. The total was enhanced to 107 runs when Venugopal Rao became the next victim for 36 off 24 balls with 1 six and 4 fours.

Taylor took over from there, attained his fifty in the 14^th over and became the sixth batsman to go back to the pavilion for 55 off 26 deliveries with 2 sixes and 7 fours. Andre Russell scored 31 quick fired runs in the late order as Delhi daredevils managed 194 runs for the loss of nine wickets in 20 overs and lost the match by 21 runs.

Zaheer Khan and Prasanth Prameswaran were the most successful bowlers with three wickets each, Vinay Kumar held two as Muttiah Muralitharan claimed one wicket.

Points scored by both teams at the end of the 67^th match of the IPL 2012:

Delhi Daredevils                     –  20 from 15 games at a net run rate of +0.559.

Royal Challengers Bangalore – 17 from 15 games at a net run rate of +0.010.