Who said IPL is not for old-timers? Adam Gilchrist - at 41-years-young -- and Azhar Mahmood -- all of 38 - put on a brilliant century partnership to guide the Kings XI Punjab to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over the struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore.
It takes a lot to keep the crowd at the Chinnaswamy Stadium quiet, but Gilchrist (85 n.o. in 51 balls) and Mahmood (61), who also picked up two wickets, did just that allying for 118 runs in little time to chase down the formidable target of 175 with 11 balls to spare.
RCB, happy to be back home, had earlier posted 174 for four in their 20 overs, courtesy half-centuries from Chris Gayle (77) and Virat Kohli (57), a total which looked like being more than enough, but proved to be a lot less than required.
Kings XI, who would have been knocked out of the IPL 2013 playoffs if they had lost to RCB on Tuesday, picked up their sixth victory to keep their slender hopes of finishing in the top-four alive, while RCB, who have now lost seven games in 15, need to find that winning formula again after falling to their second straight defeat.
Kings XI were almost perfect in their chase, and that is despite losing one of their best batsmen Shaun Marsh early on in the innings. It was extremely similar to the first innings from RCB, really, only better, much better.
Zaheer Khan, playing his first game of any sort in 2013, announced his arrival to fitness in style, castling Marsh in the third over off a delivery that pitched and seamed in a little to find a way through bat and pad.
From there, however, it was all Kings XI with Adam Gilchrist, who struggled to time the ball initially but got better as the innings progressed, and Azhar Mahmood combining for 118 in just 12.5 overs to push Kings XI to the brink of victory.
Both players played some outstanding shots, with Gilchrist, in particular, turning back the clock courtesy some of those patented pull shots and a couple of delightful boundaries straight down the ground.
Gilchrist got to his half-century, his first in IPL 2013, with an authoritative straight six off Zaheer, before Mahmood did the same in the next over - the 15th - smashing Muttiah Muralitharam for a maximum.
Mahmood (61, 41b, 8x4, 1x6) holed out to AB De Villiers at long-off off Jaydev Unadkat in the 16th, looking to finish the game off quickly, with Kings XI needing a comfortable 33 in 28 deliveries.
David Miller, the man who single-handedly won Kings XI the reverse fixture at Mohali, got out soon after, but Gilchrist (85, 54b, 10x4, 3x6) continued the assault, undeterred, and along with R Satish, eased his side to the target, and with it giving Kings XI some more oxygen to breathe in IPL 2013.
Earlier, RCB, happy to be back in the familiar confines of the Chinnaswamy Stadium, posted a total of comfort, thanks to their two best batsmen Gayle and Kohli.
Cheteshwar Pujara hogged the bulk of the strike in the first four overs, before falling in the first ball of the fifth. The right-hander got a thick outside edge while going for an expansive drive on the up off Parwinder Awana, with David Miller completing a nice low catch at point.
Gayle was having one of those innings, where he was not able to do much with the bat in the first ten overs; but then with the power and talent of the West Indian, if you do not get him out, he will eventually slay you, as was the case in the second half of the innings.
It was not annihilation station from RCB right from the off, with skipper Kohli and Gayle putting together a perfect partnership of 136 from 14.2 overs, where they built a nice little base at the start before going slam-bang thank you ma'am in the business end of the innings.
RCB were just 52 for one after ten overs, before scoring 122 off the final ten to take the score beyond 170. Gayle did not even really catch fire before the 15th over, where he smashed Manpreet Singh Gony for three consecutive sixes, going from 34 in 36 balls to 55 off 41.
There was no looking back from there as both Gayle and Kohli took toll of the bowlers to keep RCB on course for a huge total. The 18th over from Sandeep Sharma yielded 18 runs, before a strange and eventful one from Awana was taken for 14, but with two wickets falling.
Gayle (77, 53b, 4x4, 6x6) and De Villiers, off his first ball, blasted a couple of maximums, only to see their stumps uprooted soon after courtesy two very good yorkers from Awana (three for 39).
Mahmood (two for 24) also picked up two wickets off the final over of the innings - that of Kohli (57, 43b, 6x4, 2x6) and KL Rahul - while conceding 10 runs as RCB ended up on 174 for five.
