Bangalore were in danger of slipping into free-fall after Gayle fell cheaply, trapped by R Aswhin, but Kohli and Luke Pomersbach ensured they stayed afloat. While Kohli batted with calculated aggression, Pomersbach counterattacked, taking 17 runs in the 15th over, off Dwayne Bravo. A murderous heave to wide long-on, a slash to third man and a flat six over midwicket were the highlights. Kohli, though, was the person who sculpted and shaped Bangalore's innings. Two shots in particular reflected the assurance in his knock. In the 13th over, he sashayed back to a back-of-length delivery from Raina to unfurl a peachy punch to the cover-point boundary. Then, off the final ball of the 16th over, he leaned forward to play a classy lofted whip over wide long-on Ashwin. He went on to produce two more screaming sixes - over long-on and covers - off Morkel in the 19th over, to push Bangalore to a good total but Raina decided to gatecrash the party.
Bangalore v Chennai, 1st qualifier, IPL 2011, Mumbai.
Chennai Super Kings 177 for 4 (Raina 73*) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 175 (Kohli 70*, Bollinger 1-20) by six wickets
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