Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn combined to launch a breathtaking assault on Royal Challengers Bangalore’s bowlers as they rampaged to a record 105 runs in the first six overs and, in the process, chasing down 159 in just 15.1 overs, winning by six wickets.

Narine was in incredible form, hammering Samuel Badree for 25 in an over and scoring the joint-fastest fifty in Indian Premier League history, off just 15 balls. But Lynn was also up to the task, scoring a 21-ball 50 and essentially marking his return to the season after an injury break.

Earlier, RCB’s big guns of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers failed again to leave them struggling. Mandeep Singh and Travis Head put together a nice recovery job before Head hit out at the end to leave RCB with a competitive 158/6. Competitive, it looked, before Narine and Lynn got into the act.

Gayle’s anti-climax

Gayle delivers an anti-climax. Image credit: Prashant Bhoot/IPL/Sportzpics

Stormy weather. Royal Challengers Bangalore’s last match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. A crowd hoping against hope for one last stand.

Nope, no one told Chris Gayle that. He came in, Umesh Yadav bowled straight, it took his leading edge and ballooned up for a catch. And that was that. The first time Gayle has got two successive Twenty20 ducks. Anti-climax Sunday.

A familiar tale for RCB

Nothing changed for RCB. The depressingly familiar tale followed. Gayle was gone first ball. Kohli looked scratchy, distinctly scratchy. He was dropped by Piyush Chawla off a mis-hit. He had a wild, ungainly swing at a Umesh Yadav slower ball. Plumb lbw.

Ab de Villiers. He showed signs of his genius. He hit two fours. But then he tried too much. He went across to Sunil Narine who just kept it dead straight at leg stump. Bowled. Total score of all three RCB batsmen combined? 15 runs.

Head on fire

Travis Head gives it a whack. Image credit: Prashant Bhoot/IPL/Sportzpics

Travis Head and Mandeep Singh had to start a repair job for RCB. For a long time, they were looking just not to lose any more wickets. Their partnership was 71 in 63 balls as RCB scored close to seven an over. Mandeep Singh was dismissed for a 43-ball 52 and Head was scoring at just a little more than 100 before he decided to exploded in the last three overs. A six each in the 18th and 19th over gave him momentum and he absolutely laid into Umesh Yadav in the last over, hitting him for two sixes and a four to lift RCB to 158/6 and himself finishing on a 45-ball 75.

Lynn-sanity, meet Narine-force

Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine put on 105 in just 26 balls. Image credit: Prashant Bhoot/IPL/Sportzpics

The one big news from the toss was that the man was back. Chris Lynn, the same man who hammered KKR’s second-fastest fifty off just 19 balls against Gujarat Lions and then sustained a shoulder injury the next match against Mumbai Indians, was back.

And in celebration, KKR changed their opening partners again. Gambhir didn’t come out to open. Sunil Narine joined forces with Chris Lynn. And then, there was fury, storm and lightning. Lynn slammed Aniket Choudhary for four, four and six in the first over. He then took a liking to Chahal and hammered him for a four, six and four.

But Narine wasn’t in a mood to sit back and admire. He wanted to get in on the act. His Caribbean teammate Samuel Badree was hammered for 24. Then Sreenath Aravind for 22. Lynn-sanity and Narine-force combined in one display of fury and storm. Narine got the joint-fastest fifty in IPL history, just 15 balls. At the end of the Powerplay, they were 105/0, the highest in the first six overs.

Brief scores

Royal Challengers Bangalore 158/6 (Travis Head 75 not out, Mandeep Singh 52; Umesh Yadav 3/36, Sunil Narine 2/29) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 159/4 in 15.1 overs (Sunil Narine 54, Chris Lynn 50; Pawan Negi 2/19, Aniket Choudhary 1/19) by six wickets