Match 21: Bangalore Royal Challengers Wins the Thriller by 3 Runs!

Put into bat, Bangalore Royal Challengers though seemed to struggle in the home ground, finally won by 3 runs. The last 5 overs required 45 runs with Laxman and Rohit Sharma in the crease.

Steyn bowled a tight 16th over where he gave just 3 runs. Sharma scored 2 runs of the fours balls he faced and Laxman scored 1 off the 2 balls.

With 42 from 24 balls, Rohit hit a six, and a four of the first two balls of Kallis to reduce the target to 32 from 22 balls. The next two balls were single and Rohit was out in the fifth ball. He was caught at long on by Jaffer for a well made 57, his third fifty of IPL, in 42 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes.

With 3 overs and 29 required, Praveen dismissed Afridi in the first ball. He hit it over long on, where Steyn covered huge ground running from long on to almost mid-on to take a superb forward diving catch, a crucial one.

The next four balls were singles, but Laxman fell of the last ball. He played across on the ball that almost pitched on the leg and Laxman tried to play it on the onside got trappd in front. He was out for a well made 52 off 44 balls with 7 fours.

25 runs required from 12 balls, Zaheer Khan got Styris leg before for 2. The sweep by Styris of the slower ball did not materialize as he was found plumb in front of the wicket. 11 ball, 25 runs. All the five balls were singles and Zaheer produced a beautiful 19th over under pressure.

Last over was bowled by Indian test skipper Anil Kumble. The first two balls were singles scored. The third ball gave hope to Deccan Chargers were Bangar hit a six over extra cover. Came down the track and hit a flat six.

The fourth ball was also a six. The full toss was sent over mid wicket for another 6 bringing down the target to 6 runs of two balls.

Kumble, the experienced campaigner, just gave a run in the next delivery. Boucher misses the hit at the stumps, when the inside side onto his pads.

Last ball, 5 runs, Yadav, the yorker length delivery went to deep midwicket for a single and Bangalore Royal Challengers win by 3 runs. Earlier, Gilchrist fell cheaply for 10 caught at deep square leg, just inches inside the rope. Though the momentum took him few steps behind, he ensure that he is still inside the rope to take a wonderful catch to get rid off the dangerous batsman Gilchrist.

Gibbs did not make use of this match as well. He hit a four and then got out in the next over for 5. He tried to pull the short ball from Praveen Kumar's first ball, but it came late and the ball lobbed to mid off for a simple catch to Kumble.

Rohit, owner of two fifties in this IPL, joined his skipper. End of power play, 6th over, Deccan Chargers were 33 for 2. It was Sharma who started giving momentum by hitting a six of Kumble's first over and then two fours of Praveen. After that, they were playing singles to reach 63 in 10 overs.

Laxman hit three fours of Kumble in the 12th over. This opened the chance for Deccan Chargers to eye for the victory. Sharma hit a six of Praveen's over, but that over added just 7 runs. With 60 runs from 42 balls and 8 wickets in hand, every chance was with Deccan Chargers. The next two overs added 15 runs to the total to reduce the target to 45 from 30 balls and finally they lost by 3 runs.

Both Laxman and Rohit crossed half-century for Deccan Chargers.

Earlier, Jaffer and Chipli opened the innings with Chipli hitting 2 continuous fours in the 2nd over bowled by RP Singh and was bowled in the next ball. Jaffer and Kohli built the innings with a 72 run partnership of 54 balls.

Jaffer hit few good fours and Kohli also joined the party. He was caught at extra cover by Gibss off Ojha for 44 off 37 balls with 6 fours.

Kallis started off with a flick to fine leg for a boundary was bowled by Ojha. The flighted delivery pitched leg and middle deceived Kallis and he missed the line and was bowled for 6.

Kohli's irresponsible shot sent him to pavilion in the next over leaving Bangalore struggle at 104 for 4 in the 14th over.

Mibah-ul-Haq was trapped leg before off Afridi. The umpire was convinced but not the TV replays. Boucher and skipper Dravid had to carry on and put on a good score.

At the end of 15 overs, Bangalore Royal Challengers were 114 for 5. Afridi bowled a very tight line not giving any room for the batsman. The 17th over by Styris costed only 4 runs and the 18th over by Afridi added another 4. With 130 on the board and 2 overs to go, skipper Dravid had to open his shoulders for big shots.

Boucher hit a four and got out. Praveen Kumar, the new batsman hit two fours of the last two balls of RP Singh to take the score to 143 for 6.

Dravid hit a six of Styris and scored a single in the next ball. Praveen was run out in the next ball. He was looking at his shot and the ball when he played a scoop over short leg. It was Dravid's call and he rightly came to batting crease where Praveen was watching the fielder. He started late and didn't reach the crease on time.

Dravid hit a six of the penultimate ball and got out in the last ball for a well made 26 in 19 balls with 1 four and 2 sixes.

Praveen Kumar was declared man of the match for picking 3 wickets in his four overs giving away 23 runs.

Match 21
Venue: Bangalore
Date: May 3, 2008
Teams: Bangalore Royal Challengers and Hyderabad Deccan Chargers
Captains: Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman
Toss: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers and decided to field
Result: Bangalore Royal Challengers won by 3 runs
Man of the Match: Praveen Kumar off Bangalore Royal Challengers (India)
Points: Bangalore Royal Challengers-2; Hyderabad Deccan Chargers-0
Score:
Bangalore Royal Challengers 156 for 8 in 20 overs (B Chipli 10, W Jaffer 44, V Kohli 38, JH Kallis 6, Misbah-ul-Haq 3, R Dravid 26, MV Boucher 16, P Kumar 8, Z Khan 0 not out, Extras—5 (lb 3, wide 2), DP Vijaykumar 3-0-18-0, RP Singh 4-0-41-3, SB Styris 4-0-29-1, Shahid Afridi 4-0-23-1, PP Ojha 4-0-28-2, SB Bangar 1-0-14-0) beat Hyderabad Deccan Chargers 153 for 6 in 20 overs (AC Gilchrist 10, VVS Laxman 52, HH Gibbs 5, RG Sharma 57, Shahid Afridi 1, SB Styris 2, AS Yadav 3 not out, SB Bangar 17 not out, Extras—6 (b 1, lb 3, wide 2), DW Steyn 4-0-20-0, Z Khan 4-0-24-2, P Kumar 4-0-23-3, A Kumble 4-0-47-0, JH Kallis 4-0-35-1)

Match 5: Bangalore Royal Challengers Wins the Thriller!

Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Mumbai Indians playing without the experienced master batsman Sachin Tendulkar, posted a good fighting total on the board. The inexperienced captain Harbhajan Singh, did not hesitate to bat first.

Jayasuriya provided a firing start hitting Praveen Kumar and Kallis all over the ground. His knock off 29 off just 16 balls with 5 fours and a six came to an end by an excellent direct hit at the non-strickers end by Zaheer Khan on his own bowling.

He was hitting the ball well and it was a blow for the Mumbai Indians because it really slowed the tempo.

Earlier, Ronchi was caught brilliantly by Kohli--could be the catch of the tournament so far. He flew i the air at point to grab the fantastic catch and povide the break through to Bangalore. Thornley was hit by Zaheer Khan's bouncer on the right forehead near the eyebrow.

Then Uthappa joined Shah and they both added 51 for the 4th wicket in 47 balls. Uthappa was timing and placing the ball well and his 48 runs came in 38 balls with 5 fours and a six. Shah scored 19 off 23 balls with 2 fours. It was AM Nayar who added few runs to the score with his 20 off 14 balls.

It was Pollock, who really gave the Mumbai Indians a chance to fight back at the end of the innings. His quick fire 28 off 12 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes helped Mumbai to go past 150. He was the last batsman to get out in the last ball of the innings--bowled by Zaheer Khan.

Chasing the target of 166, Dravid and Chandrapaul opened the innings for Bangalore Royal Challengers. Dravid struggled against Pollock and he gave away only 1 run in his first over. Chandrapaul was hitting the ball well and was improving the run rate of Bangalore. His 16 off 11 balls came to an end when he tried to hit the ball over mid wicket, he was caught. He should have retired when he got hurt through an inside edge that hit his right inside knee. Dravid and Chandrapaul added 37 for the first wicket in 5 overs.

Taylor joined Dravid and they both added 31 for 2nd wicket in 3.5 overs. Dravid was out by a beautiful flighted doosra by Harbhajan. He gave a simple return catch to Bhajji. He was out for 32 off 33 balls with 4 fours.

At the end of the 10th over, Taylor was out off Jayasuriya for 23, scored in 12 balls with 1 four and 2 sixes.

It was left to the experienced Kallis and Indian Under-19 captain Kohli to restore the pride for Bangalore. Kohli played few good shots that and both lead a good fight back. Kohli hit 23 off 14 balls with 3 fours and a six. Kohili was dismissed when the score for 106 in 13.3 overs.

Requiring 60 in 39 balls, Kallis and Boucher brought the target down to 48 in 5 overs. Pollock's over cost 8 runs and the target was 40 in 4 overs.

Jayasuriya bowled the 17th over which cost 10 runs. A huge six off the first ball by Boucher and the singles in the remaining balls gave a chance to Banglore.

With 30 runs in 18 balls, Kallis hit the first ball of Nehra for a straight six of a full toss, in the last two balls of the same over, Boucher hit a four over mid wicket and huge six which hit the roof of the stadium. With 19 runs conceeded in the 18th over, Bangalore required 11 runs of 12 balls.

Harbhajan bowled the 19th over. First ball was a single by Kallis, then a four at point by Boucher, then a single. With 5 runs required, Harbhajan took the wicket of Kallis. It was a good forward diving catch at deep midwicket by Nayar.

Akhil scored two in the next ball and no run was scored in the last ball of the 19th over.

With 3 runs to win in the last over, Kulkarni's first ball was a single. The second ball was a wide. No run was scored in the 2nd and 3rd ball. With scores are equal one run to win, Akhil's drive to mid-on where the fielder missed to hold the ball as it bounced and rolled away from the hands of the fielder. By that time, Boucher and Akhil had completed the winning run.

It was Nehra's over which turned the match towards Banglore Royal Challengers towards the end. This win would give confidence to the entire team as their previous defeat was devastating as they lost by 140 runs.

Boucher was declared Man of the Match. So far, in all the five matches played, no Indian have won a Man of the Match.

Match 5
Venue: Mumbai
Date: April 20, 2008
Teams: Mumbai Indias v. Bangalore Royal Challengers
Captains: Harbhajan Singh and Rahul Dravid
Toss: Mumbai Indians and decided to bat
Result: Bangalore Royal Challengers won by 5 wickets with 2 balls remaining
Man of the Match: Mark Boucher of Bangalore Royal Challengers (South Africa)
Points: Bangalore Royal Challengers-2; Mumbai Indians-0
Score:
Mumbai Indias 165 for 6 in 20 overs (L Ronchi 8, ST Jayasuriya 29, DJ Thornely 0, RV Uthappa 48, P Shah 19, AM Nayar 20, SM Pollock 28, Harbhajan Singh 2 not out, Extras 11--b 2, lb 6, wide 3, P Kumar 4-0-29-1, Z Khan 4-0-17-2, JH Kallis 3-0-43-0, R Vinay Kumar 4-0-41-0, B Akhil 3-0-17-2, SB Joshi 2-0-10-0) lost to Bangalore Royal Challengers 166 for 5 in 19.4 overs (S Chanderpaul 16, R Dravid 32, LRPL Taylor 23, JH Kallis 25, V Kohli 23, MV Boucher 39 not out, B Akhil 3 not out, Extras 5--wide 5, A Nehra 4-0-45-1, SM Pollock 4-0-17-0, DS Kulkarni 2.4-0-19-1, ST Jayasuriya 4-0-39-1, Harbhajan Singh 4-0-36-2, AM Nayar 1-0-10-0)