De Villiers, Rampaul star in eliminator as Bangalore register their fourth win
Once Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers attained full flow, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s chase seemed destined for a smooth end. But it wasn’t to be.
The run out of de Villiers triggered a spectacular collapse with Royal Challengers losing five wickets for nine runs. The hosts slipped from a comfortable 129 for two to 152 for seven for the scores to be levelled with Delhi Daredevils after the regulation time, extending the match into the Super Over.
Royal Challengers had earlier suffered an agonising defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad a few days back at Uppal in the one-over eliminator, but this time they held their nerve to score a win to go on top of the points chart.
Earlier, the customary profligacy of Royal Challengers bowlers in the death overs helped Daredevils post a competitive total. The visitors rattled 58 runs in the last five overs, 30 in the last two overs, to post 152 for five, a total that seemed far from possible at one stage. It certainly gave RCB something to chase, and they appeared well on course till Daredevils made a late comeback into the match through a clutch of wickets in the final stages of the chase.
But De Villiers, who smoked two sixes off UmeshYadav, and Ravi Rampaul, who bowled cleverly, combined well to help RCB survive the Super Over test.
Before the match came to a tense finale, Chris Gayle’s two sixes early on gave the impression of a night of Caribbean party at the M Chinnaswamy stadium. But an aimless flay at a fuller delivery from Morne Morkel that ended in the hands of Yadav at third man snapped Gayle’s stay.
A near capacity crowd went into a mute mode, but they regained their voices once Kohli and de Villiers milked 103 runs for the entertaining third-wicket stand.
Uncanny similarity
There is no better sight on a cricket field than watching Kohli and de Villiers in their zone. There’s an uncanny similarity as well to their batting, especially in their off-side play. Both the batsmen fuse power, elegance and timing quite effortlessly, leaving the fielders mere companions of the ball on its way to the ropes.
De Villiers could be slightly more engaging to watch as the South African right-hander comes up with breathtaking innovative shots now and then. He showed his special skills when he sliced Ashish Nehra over backward point for a six on a bent knee – the shot a wonderful example of his ability to manufacture a stroke out of nowhere.
At the other end, Kohli, who made a superb fifty, didn’t rely too much on innovativeness on the night, but then he was hardly faced with the need to do anything garish.
The Delhi lad has an amazing array of strokes at his disposal, and even more amazing amount of time to play them. Yadav slipped in a scorching bouncer that caught Kohli in an awkward position, but still he managed to pull that away, giving no chance to the square leg fielder to block it.
But it wasn’t that the Daredevils were completely absent from the frame. Openers – David Warner and Virender Sehwag – spurred the Delhiites to 43 in little over five overs, playing a few crisp shots.
However, R Vinay Kumar managed to produce a moment of absolute magic while latching on to a full-blooded shot from Warner off his own bowling. Even the arrival of skipper Mahela Jayawardene didn’t provide the steam to their innings as Delhi meandered along like a dying river.
Scoreboard
DELHI DAREDEVILS: David Warner c&b Vinay 15 (13b, 3×4), Virender Sehwag c Kohli b McDonald 25 (23b, 4×4), Manpreet Juneja c Vinay b Unadkat 17 (16b, 2×4), Mahela Jayawardene (run out) 28 (31b, 2×4), Ben Roherer c Kohli b Unadkat 14 (14b, 2×4), Kedar Jadhav (not out) 29 (16b, 2×4, 1×6), Irfan Pathan (not out) 19 (8b, 2×4, 1×6). Extras (LB-1, NB-1, W-3) 5. Total (for 5 wkts, 20 overs) 152.
Fall of wickets: 1-43 (Warner), 2-43 (Sehwag), 3-73 (Juneja), 4-91 (Roherer), 5-122 (Jayawardene).
Bowling: Ravi Rampaul 4-1-28-0 (nb-1), RP Singh 4-0-48-0 (w-1), Jaydev Unadkat 4-0-24-2 (w-2), R Vinay Kumar 4-0-21-1, Andrew McDonald 2-0-17-1, Syed Mohammad 2-0-13-0.
Runs during Power Play: 1-6 overs: 43/1.
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE: Chris Gayle c Yadav b Morkel 13 (9b, 2×6), KL Rahul c Jayawardene b Nehra 12 (12b, 24), Virat Kohli c Jayawardene b Yadav 65 (50b, 7×4, 1×6), AB de Villiers (run out) 39 (32b, 3×4, 1×6), Andrew McDonald c&b Nadeem 0 (2b), KB Arun Karthik (run out) 5 (5b), Syed Mohammad c Warner b Yadav 1 (2b), Vinay Kumar (not out) 1 (1b), Ravi Rampaul (not out) 12 (7b, 1×6). Extras (B-1, LB-1, W-2) 4. Total (for 7 wkts, 20 overs) 152.
Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Rahul), 2-26 (Gayle), 3-129 (De Villiers), 4-129 (McDonald), 5-136 (Arun), 6-138 (Mohamamd), 7-138 (Kohli).
Bowling: Ashish Nehra 4-0-31-1 (w-1), Morne Morkel 4-0-32-1 (w-1), Irfan Pathan 4-0-39-0, Umesh Yadav 4-0-22-2, Shabaz Nadeem 4-0-26-1.
Power Play: 1-6: 48/2.
Super Over: Royal Challengers Bangalore: 15/0 (1, 1, 1, 0, 6, 6) bt Delhi Daredevils: 11/2 (w, 4, 0, 6, 1, w).
Gony stars in Kings XI win
Manpreet Gony’s knock made the difference for Kings XI Punjab who beat defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders by 4 four runs in an IPL thriller in Mohali on Tuesday
Narine’s hat-trick goes in vain
After Sunil Narine’s hat-trick and a robust 105-run stand between Gautam Gambhir and Eoin Morgan, it was a match for Kolkata Knight Riders to lose. And it did.
One can easily credit the ‘never-say-die’ spirit of Kings XI Punjab for the result. But on this day, it was a more a case of KKR losing the match than the host winning it.
Consider this. Chasing 158 to win, KKR reached 106 for two in 13 overs with left-handers Gambhir and Morgan on fire. But dramatically, the untimely aggression of KXIP that has proved its bane often in the past, seemed to have rubbed off on KKR when in sight of victory.
Sensational collapse
What followed was a sensational collapse with KKR losing seven wickets for 47 runs to leave KXIP winner by four runs!
Gambhir, still managing to smile during the post-match presentation ceremony, admitted that he had thought his team would cross the line with some overs to spare. He quickly chose to say the format was a “great leveller.”
KXIP skipper Adam Gilchrist, who saved crucial four byes in the final over besides taking two catches, underplayed the drama involved in the end and said, “It was a big game and we haven’t had the best record at home.”
The enthralling finish for those supporting the home team came when KKR failed to score 11 runs off the final over bowled by Praveen Kumar.
In fact, Rajat Bhatia had raised KKR’s hopes by hitting two sixes off Delhi teammate Parvinder Awana before falling in the penultimate over.
Hero Manpreet Grewal
Even as KKR was left looking for the villains, KXIP had its hero in Manpreet Grewal, who insists on not being addressed as ‘Gony’, who made a memorable ‘debut’ for his home team.
The well-built medium pacer used the long-handle to good effect and smashed an 18-ball 42 to lift the team’s spirits, dampened after Narine’s hat-trick that left the team worried at 99 for six from 15 overs.
Grewal’s contribution with the ball, conceding just 18 runs in four overs for the wicket of Gambhir, also helped him become the Man of the Match.
The result also put into shade Narine’s hat-trick which was only the 10th of the competition.
The off-spinner got rid of David Hussey, fortuitously taken by wicket-keeper Manvinder Bisla, held a top-edged return catch of Azhar Mahmood and bowled young Gurkeerat Mann in his second over.
Narine conceded another three off his next over but was hit for 23 runs in his fourth, with Piyush Chawla hitting a four before Grewal hoisted two sixes and a boundary!
Struggling for stands
Earlier, KXIP continued to struggle for partnerships and lost wickets at regular intervals in search of quick runs.
Once again, none of the batsman could reach 50 but the team just about managed to bat 20 overs for the first time, but not before surviving a last-ball scare of a possible run-out.
Mandeep Singh looked in good nick, and so did Manan Vohra but the duo fell to big shots.
David Hussey and new-man David Miller, who later brought out a tumbling catch to send back Yusuf Pathan, kept the scoreboard ticking with singles until Grewal provided the brightest phase of the innings.
Scoreboard:
Kings XI Punjab: Adam Gilchrist lbw b Senanayake 7 (12b, 1×4); Mandeep Singh c Manvinder Bisla b Kallis 41 (30b, 6×4), Manan Vohra c & b Balaji 17 (16b, 2×4), David Hussey c Bisla b Narine 12 (15b), David Miller b Senanayake 20 (17b, 1×4), Azhar Mahmood c & b Narine 0 (1b), Gurkeerat Mann b Narine 0 (1b), Manpreet Grewal b Kallis 42 (18b, 4×4, 3×6), Piyush Chawla (not out) 11 (8b, 2×4), Praveen Kumar c Yusuf Pathan b Kallis 1 (2b), Parvinder Awana (not out) 0 (0b); Extras (b-1, lb-2, w-3): 6; Total (for nine wkts. in 20 overs): 157.
Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Gilchrist), 2-61 (Mandeep), 3-70 (Vohra), 4-99 (Hussey), 5-99 (Mahmood), 6-99 (Mann), 7-109 (Miller), 8-150 (Grewal), 9-152 (Praveen).
Kolkata Knight Riders bowling: Lakshmipathy Balaji 4-0-39-1, Jacques Kallis 4-0-24-3, Sachithra Senanayake 4-0-28-2, Sunil Narine 4-0-33-3, Rajat Bhatia 4-0-30-0.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Manvinder Bisla c Gilchrist b Praveen 0 (1b), Gautam Gambhir c Gilchrist b Grewal 60 (39b, 9×4), Jacques Kallis c Mandeep b Mahmood 1 (6b), Eoin Morgan c Hussey b Mahmood 47 (38b, 6×4), Manoj Tiwary b Awana 1 (7b), Yusuf Pathan c Miller b Praveen 13 (16b, 2×4), Debabrata Das lbw b Mahmood 1 (3b), Rajat Bhatia b Awana 16 (6b, 2×6), Sachithra Senanayake (run out) 1 (2b), Sunil Narine (not out) 1 (2b), Lakshmipathy Balaji (not out) 0 (0b); Extras (lb-7, w-5): 12; Total (for nine wkts. in 20 overs): 153.
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Bisla), 2-1 (Kallis), 3-106 (Gambhir), 4-116 (Morgan), 5-117 (Tiwary), 6-124 (Das), 7-147 (Bhatia), 8-150 (Yusuf), 9-152 (Senanayake).
Kings XI Punjab bowling: Praveen Kumar 4-0-26-2, Azhar Mahmood 4-0-21-3, Manpreet Grewal 4-0-18-1, David Hussey 1-0-14-0, Parvinder Awana 4-0-39-2, Piyush Chawla 3-0-28-0.
Man-of-the-match: Manpreet Grewal.
