May 3, 2008 Royal Challengers
Beat Deccan Chargers
by Three Runs
Bangalore
Deccan Chargers tripped at the finishing line as Bangalore Royal
Challengers fought back to clinch a three-run victory in a pulsating
Indian Premier League (IPL) match here Saturday.
The two teams dished out an exciting thriller that went all along
the wire and was the closest fought of the IPL matches so far.
Put into bat, Royal Challengers put up 156 for eight with Wasim
Jaffer contributing 44.
Deccan Chargers were cruising along and had the run-chase well in
control with Rohit Sharma (57) and skipper V.V.S Laxman (52) putting
on 96 runs for the third wicket.
A flurry of wickets, however, undid the Chargers' good work and they
were left to score 20 runs in the last over.
Sanjay Bangar did not lose nerves as he faced experienced Anil
Kumble in the last over and almost won the match for his team.
Bangar hit Kumble for two successive sixes to raise hopes for the
visitors. The first one, off the third delivery, went flat over
extra-cover while the next soared over the mid-wicket boundary.
Six runs were required in the last two balls when Kumble squeezed
all his experience out to see the Challengers through. Bangar could
take only a single in the next ball though he went for another
biggie.
Kumble fired a yorker in the last delivery and Arjun Yadav could
take only a single as the M. Chinnaswamy stadium erupted in joy amid
dazzling fireworks.
Earlier, Jaffer and Virat Kohli laid a solid foundation for Royal
Challengers after they lost their first wicket cheap. Jaffer struck
44 off 37 balls that included six boundaries while Kohli's 38 came
in 29 balls with the help of two sixes and a four.
Bangalore were cruising at 85 for one before Deccan Chargers struck
back with regular wickets. Jaffer top-edged a slog-sweep off the
impressive Pragyan Ojha (2-28), who foxed Jacques Kallis in his next
over. Kohli perished soon to Rudra Pratap Singh (3-41) before
skipper Rahul Dravid (26) and Mark Boucher (16) scored some quick
runs towards the end.
Chargers' run-chase suffered an early jolt as they lost two cheap
wickets. Adam Gilchrist (11) fell to Zaheer Khan (2-24) while
Praveen Kumar (3-23) removed Herschelle Gibbs (5) with the
scoreboard reading 31 for two.
Laxman and Sharma then joined forces. Sharma, who struck five fours
and three sixes, played another sublime innings bringing up his
third half-century of the IPL. But after he left, a flurry of
wickets brought Challengers back into the game.
Kallis got rid of Sharma while Shahid Afridi could make just one run
before Dale Steyn pulled off a superb diving catch at long-on off
Kumar.
Then came two leg-before-the-wicket decisions which put the Chargers
on the backfoot. Laxman, was out to a Praveen Kumar delivery which
pitched outside leg, and when Scott Styris was given out in similar
fashion to Zaheer Khan in the next over, it seemed Bangalore had
sealed the win. Bangar gave his best shot but could not see his team
through.
Scoreboard
Bangalore Royal Challengers:
Bharat Chipli b Singh 10
Wasim Jaffer c Gibbs b Ojha 44
Virat Kohli c Bangar b Singh 38
Jacques Kallis b Ojha 6
Misbah-ul-Haq lbw b Shahid Afridi 3
Rahul Dravid c Yadav b Styris 26
Mark Boucher b Singh 16
Praveen Kumar run out (Bangar/Styris) 8
Zaheer Khan not out 0
Extras (lb 3, w 2) 5
Total (for eight wickets in 20 overs) 156
Deccan Chargers:
Adam Gilchrist c Jaffer b Khan 10
V.V.S. Laxman lbw b Kumar 52
Herschelle Gibbs c Kumble b Kumar 5
Rohit Sharma c Jaffer b Kallis 57
Shahid Afridi c Steyn b Kumar 1
Scott Styris lbw b Khan 2
Arjun Yadav not out 3
Sanjay Bangar not out 17
Extras (b 1, lb 3, w 2) 6
Total (for six wickets in 20 overs) 153
Toss: Deccan Chargers, who chose to field first
Points Bangalore Royal Challengers 2, Deccan Chargers 0
Player of the match Praveen Kumar (Bangalore Royal Challengers)
Umpires: B.R. Doctrove (West Indies) and S.L. Shastri (India)
TV umpire: S.K. Tarapore (India)
Match referee: Talat Ali (Pakistan)
Reserve umpire: C.K. Nandan (India)
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