Ganguly won the toss and no hesitation to bat first, up to that point all sides doing so in Bangalore had won, on a good pitch for playing shots with good pace and carry. Ryder and Uthappa, a lethal combination, both got off to a flying start as the boundaries just kept coming, whether from spinner or seamer. As clean hitters go, these 2 are up there with the best of them and the bowlers had no margin for error, anything full or wide was dispatched over the infield, both strong enough to mishit the ball to the ropes, and by the end of the powerplay the score was 58/0 with the platform set for a big one. Ryder (34 from 22) went in the next over, to a great catch on the boundary from Agarwal, as he skied a slog that went miles up in the air. This wicket prompted Uthappa to turn into the aggressor as he continued his sweet striking of the ball, promoting him to open is the right call as he is Pune's most dangerous player and so should be facing as much of the bowling as possible. Ganguly contributed just 6 runs in their partnership of 45, as Uthappa brought up his 50 in style with successive reverse swept 4s off Dilshan. However, both he and Ganguly fell in quick succession, Uthappa loosely playing a wide half volley from Vettori straight into the hands of backward point when Pune could really have done with him batting a few more overs at least, to leave PWI at 117/3 after 13. Samuels (34 from 20) and Smith both got into their stride quickly and a score of even 200 looked possible for Pune before some silly cricket and good bowling from RCB got them back into it. Both were run out attempting to take cheeky byes to the keeper standing back and this really was unnecessary, this is a last resort normally saved until the final over, and for 2 of Pune's best finishers to give their wickets away with plenty of deliveries left was criminal and prevented that late assault that could have put them beyond RCB. Good death bowling from the canny Vinay Kumar (4-0-34-2) and a good spell in the middle overs from Patel (4-0-29-1) was important in evening out the game at the half way mark, but Pune did a lot of the damage themselves and will regret their attempts at risky singles, eventually posting 182/6.
Pune came out knowing they'd need a strong start against the top heavy Bangalore side for whom 183 was highly reachable. Both Dinda and Nehra did just this as nothing was given away to Dilshan or Gayle, they hit the right lengths and with just enough sideways movement to pose problems. After 2 overs RCB had just 4 runs and this prompted Dilshan's ill fated 'Dilscoop' which he played into his helmet for a simple catch for Uthappa. Gayle found his feet in the 4th over from Nehra with some clean strikes, but when Agarwal fell to the last ball of the powerplay, following a tight over from Samuels (2-0-5-1), RCB had plenty to do at 42/2. A really good period followed for Pune as the next 6 overs went for just 24 runs, with the added wicket of Kohli who was forced to attempt a big shot as the pressure mounted, and should have been enough to put the game beyond doubt. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4-0-27-0), in particular, was extremely impressive as he hit the perfect length when faced with the daunting sight of Chris Gayle at the other end, fractionally short enough to prevent the big Jamaican planting his front foot down and swinging. RCB needed 107 runs from the final 8, 13.37 an over, and with another new man at the crease alongside an apparently subdued Gayle the game seemed to be Pune's, if only it was that simple.
Gayle decided to thrown caution to the wind and hammered Rahul Sharma's next over for an incredible 5 successive 6s, one of which at 106m was the biggest of the tournament and looked absolutely enormous. Sharma tried everything from short and flat, to tossed up and full and even round the wicket but nothing could stop Gayle as the it went for 31 runs and suddenly the game was on again, truly incredible how he managed to change gears so quickly. A couple of quiet overs followed and then Nehra sent back Gayle (81 from 48, including 8 sixes!) with an inch perfect leg stump yorker to swing the game back into Pune's favour. Tiwary and de Villiers were left needing 55 from 4 overs, a hugely tough ask for a couple of batsmen new to the crease, and from there the game should have PWI's. A big 18th over kept RCB in it, both AB and Tiwary cleared the ropes, but a brilliant effort from Dinda in the 19th tipped the equation back to the boys in blue. He found a relentlessly full length that neither batsman could do anything with as it went for just 7 runs and left Nehra with 21 defend in the final over, all he had to do was keep his head. Unfortunately he lost his length, possibly as a result of the pouring rain, and de Villiers (33* from 14), who played a few remarkable scoops that went for 2 sixes and a four, left Tiwary needing 3 from the last ball. He duly obliged as a length ball was smashed over long on for 6, both men showing remarkable coolness in what was almost a must win game for RCB. Pune will be wondering how it all went wrong from such a strong position but in Gayle and de Villiers RCB have 2 of the best limited overs players in the world who can win games on their own, not to forget the part played by Tiwary (36* from 23).
From a Pune perspective it was painful to watch as so many times they had game wrapped up but allowed RCB to come back into it, although at times there is nothing a spinner can do against Gayle! Dinda (4-0-28-1) had been outstanding and his 19th over deserved to be the match winner but Nehra was unable to finish it off. Perhaps Ganguly wishes he'd have thrown the ball to Samuels, particularly with the way AB likes to use the pace of the seamers to go over third man and fine leg, but who's to say a player of De Villier's class wouldn't have been just as brutal with an over of off-spin. It was an awesome chase from RCB under immense pressure given their position in the table and credit must go to the match winners in Gayle (MoM), de Villiers and Tiwary who somehow stayed as calm as they did. Pune should be disappointed as they came so close to yet another giant killing but ultimately it wasn't to be, there's a reason RCB paid so much for those players! It was a treat to watch as the game constantly kept swinging this way and that, I just wish Pune had finished the job.
No comments:
Post a Comment