CHENNAI, April 12: South Africa all-rounder Albie Morkel plundered 28 runs off an over from Virat Kohli as Chennai Super Kings scored a thrilling last-ball victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League on Thursday.

Defending champions Chennai seemed to have been edged out when they needed 43 off the last two overs, but Morkel (28) turned the game around in the 19th over with three sixes and two fours, leaving all-rounders Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja to complete a five-wicket win.

Bangalore had scored a mammoth 205-8 as opener Chris Gayle (68) led a belligerent top-order performance.

But Chennai remained in the hunt through South African Faf du Plessis (71 off 46) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (41 off 24) before the all-rounders wrapped up the game at 208-5.

Morkel was dismissed off the seventh ball he faced but pace bowler Vinay Kumar could not keep up the good work in the last over.

An above-the-waist no-ball that was clobbered for four by Bravo tilted the balance back in Chennai’s favour. Bravo also smashed a six in the over and it finally came down to getting two off the last delivery when Jadeja scored the winning four to third man.

Earlier, left-hander Gayle smashed six sixes in his 35-ball innings and his effort was supplemented well by opener Mayank Agarwal (45) and No 3 batsman Virat Kohli (57).

Gayle, who was the highest scorer last season with 608 runs, was surprisingly overshadowed early on by the little-known Agarwal, who struck three fours and five sixes off 25 balls.

Gayle was on five off five deliveries when Agarwal was dismissed in a team score of 53 but had a fruitful 11-over partnership with Kohli that produced 109 runs.

Meanwhile, West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard hammered a 33-ball 64 and then bagged 4-44 as Mumbai Indians scored a 27-run victory over Rajasthan Royals in Mumbai on Wednesday night.

Pollard’s mid-innings blitz, during which he smashed four sixes and six fours, helped Mumbai pile up a huge total of 197-6 after being put in to bat at the Wankhede Stadium.

But the home team got a scare as Owais Shah smashed a 42-ball 76 with five sixes and five fours, before a two-wicket burst by Sri Lanka paceman Lasith Malinga wrested the initiative back and Rajasthan was bowled out for 170 in 19.4 overs.

Pollard was in devastating form and produced his trademark shots over the mid-wicket and long-on boundaries. He once blasted 23 runs off an over from off-spinner Johan Botha, including two consecutive sixes.

He also took 15 off an over from left-arm spinner Ankeet Chavan before holing out to the deep in the last ball of the same over, the 17th of the innings. Pollard added 96 for the fourth wicket with Ambati Rayudu (47), who struck three sixes and one four off 32 balls.

Apart from Pollard and Rayudu, opener Richard Levi (29 off 22), Rohit Sharma (21 off 13) and Harbhajan Singh (18 off 6) were the others to chip in with useful cameos.

For Rajasthan, opener Ajinkya Rahane (40 off 31) started a spirited fightback that turned into a threat when Shah joined him. The pair added 82 for the third wicket.

Shah continued with his lusty blows, whacking a majority of his shots towards the square-leg boundary but was bowled by Malinga who also dismissed Botha soon after as Rajasthan slipped to 136-5 in the 15th over.

Pollard, unable to intimidate Shah earlier on despite an exchange of words, then came on to grab three wickets in the space of four deliveries when he dismissed Ashok Menaria, Chavan and Amit Singh in the 18th over of the innings.

Munaf Patel, who had taken two early wickets including that of Dravid, also finished with a four-wicket haul as Rajasthan failed to play out the 20 overs.

Results: Chennai Super Kings beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by five wickets.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE 205-8 in 20 overs (C.H. Gayle 68, V. Kohli 57, M.A. Agarwal 45; D.E. Bollinger 3-24, R.A. Jadeja 2-18, J.A. Morkel 2-37); CHENNAI SUPER KINGS 208-5 in 20 overs (F. du Plessis 71, M.S. Dhoni 41, J.A. Morkel 28, D.J. Bravo 23 not out, S.K. Raina 23; M. Muralitharan 3-21).

Mumbai Indians beat Rajasthan Royals by 27 runs.

MUMBAI INDIANS 197-6 (K.A. Pollard 64, A.T. Rayudu 47, R.E. Levi 29, R.G. Sharma 21; Amit Singh 2-29, G.B. Hogg 2-31); RAJASTHAN ROYALS 170 in 19.4 overs (O.A. Shah 76, A.M. Rahane 40, A.L. Menaria 20; M.M. Patel 4-28, K.A. Pollard 4-44, S.L. Malinga 2-13).—AP