BANGALORE: A Virat Kohli special and a collective bowling effort aided Royal Challengers Bangalore for the second consecutive match in IPL 4 while a vastly-improved fielding show spiced up the proceedings as the home side eased to a 26-run victory over Pune Warriors at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday.
With their third victory on the trot and their first on home turf, the Daniel Vettori-led side has now jumped to the second spot in the points table, with nine points.
At the halfway stage of the chase, Pune were 119 runs away from the 182-run target despite yet another vital contribution by Jesse Ryder (51, 34b) at the top of the tree. The other dangerman in the Pune ranks, skipper Yuvraj Singh (41, 23b, 2x4, 3x6), fell to Zaheer Khan in the 17th over and it was all over for the visitors.
The Karnataka pace duo of S Arvind and A Mithun made great impact with the former claiming an early wicket and the latter revving up high speeds under pressure. Vettori was yet again impressive with his economy while defending a challenging total, thanks to Kohli's pyrotechnics at the second half of the RCB innings.
The dashing youngster's come-what-may attitude was on full display as the RCB No. 3 enthused the home crowd with a fruitful late charge to set up a formidable 181/5 after Yuvraj had won the toss and elected to bowl. Kohli's 42-ball 67 (4x4, 4x6), crafted with those trademark pulls and silken cover drives, took the cake as the Delhi lad snatched the Orange Cap from maestro Sachin Tendulkar with an aggregate of 294 runs.
The young right-hander spliced up a crucial 66-run stand with No. 4 AB de Villiers (26) for the third wicket but the Delhi lad easily was the surprise aggressor between the two.
A maximum off leg-spinner Rahul Sharma set things rolling for Kohli in the 15th over but his now famous use of wrists in those audacious pulls was easily the spectacle for the connoisseur. Though he escaped a run out early in the innings, none of the Pune bowlers could trouble Kohli and ironically, his dismissal in the penultimate over of the innings came off a mistimed pull.
The goodly crowd watched the home team racing to 50 in just 5.4 overs despite two tight overs by new-ball bowler Alfonso Thomas (4-0-23-2). Chris Gayle (49, 26b, 4x4, 4x6) was his usual nonchalant self, mixing blind heaves with brutal strokes, Kamran Khan suffering the most when the big Jamaican connected well.
toi
With their third victory on the trot and their first on home turf, the Daniel Vettori-led side has now jumped to the second spot in the points table, with nine points.
At the halfway stage of the chase, Pune were 119 runs away from the 182-run target despite yet another vital contribution by Jesse Ryder (51, 34b) at the top of the tree. The other dangerman in the Pune ranks, skipper Yuvraj Singh (41, 23b, 2x4, 3x6), fell to Zaheer Khan in the 17th over and it was all over for the visitors.
The Karnataka pace duo of S Arvind and A Mithun made great impact with the former claiming an early wicket and the latter revving up high speeds under pressure. Vettori was yet again impressive with his economy while defending a challenging total, thanks to Kohli's pyrotechnics at the second half of the RCB innings.
The dashing youngster's come-what-may attitude was on full display as the RCB No. 3 enthused the home crowd with a fruitful late charge to set up a formidable 181/5 after Yuvraj had won the toss and elected to bowl. Kohli's 42-ball 67 (4x4, 4x6), crafted with those trademark pulls and silken cover drives, took the cake as the Delhi lad snatched the Orange Cap from maestro Sachin Tendulkar with an aggregate of 294 runs.
The young right-hander spliced up a crucial 66-run stand with No. 4 AB de Villiers (26) for the third wicket but the Delhi lad easily was the surprise aggressor between the two.
A maximum off leg-spinner Rahul Sharma set things rolling for Kohli in the 15th over but his now famous use of wrists in those audacious pulls was easily the spectacle for the connoisseur. Though he escaped a run out early in the innings, none of the Pune bowlers could trouble Kohli and ironically, his dismissal in the penultimate over of the innings came off a mistimed pull.
The goodly crowd watched the home team racing to 50 in just 5.4 overs despite two tight overs by new-ball bowler Alfonso Thomas (4-0-23-2). Chris Gayle (49, 26b, 4x4, 4x6) was his usual nonchalant self, mixing blind heaves with brutal strokes, Kamran Khan suffering the most when the big Jamaican connected well.
toi
No comments:
Post a Comment