Chennai: Defending champions Chennai Super Kings pulled off a amazing last-ball victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore after organism on the back foot for a mass of the contest at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Daniel Vettori selected to bat and Bangalore piled on a huge 205-8. Chennai began their chase in a speed, as Faf du Plessis (71, 46b)Suresh Raina (23, 14b)and M.S. Dhoni (41, 24b) kept them in the hunt, with the asking rate heaving beyond the initial 10 runs-per over mark.
Bangalore Royal Challenge regularly tightened the screws and the equation read 43 to get in 2overs when Dhoni got out. The visit teams were rank star as Virat Kohli came on for the 19th over. Albie Morkel, who had walked in at the skipper's the sack, changed the complexion of the match in the space of 6 deliveries. Kohli's over interpret 4, 6, 4,6,2,6, as Morkel massacre the part-timer for 28 runs, bringing the must down to 15 from the final over, to be bowled by Vinay Kumar.
Vinay accepted a single on the 1st ball, dismissed Morkel on the 2nd, and once again the momentum swung Bangalore's way. But with 14 to get in4 balls Dwayne Bravo, now on strike, did not disappoint. He top-edged a waist-high no-ball to the fence, clubbed a 6 off a full-toss and stole a single - bringing Chennai to within one batter of the target.
Ravindra Jadeja face the last ball of the match with his team needing a couple, and the $2 million get edged a chancy 4 to 3rd-man to deliver an unlikely 5-wicket win from an almost impossible position. It was unlucky that Muttiah Muralitharan, who bowled his 4 overs for just 21 amid the destruction and also cleaned up Chennai's top 3 batters, ended up on the losing side.
Earlier, a 109-run stand in 11 overs between Chris Gayle and Kohli take Bangalore to 205. This rematch of the 2011 IPL last began with Mayank Agarwal making plain his intent. He took four off R. Ashwin - who had opened the bowling- and Bollinger. Agarwal was drop on 16 by the left-arm paceman off Ashwin and he made Chennai pay for the lapse, signal sixes off Ashwin and Bollinger as Bangalore raced to 50 in the 5th over.
Agarwal completely outshone Gayle in their 53-run chance stand, as the West Indian contribute just 6 to the association. Having begun the season with two losses in 3 matches - as against Bangalore's one each record - Chennai would have hope for its battery of spinners to stifle the flow of runs and give them a starting in the game. As it happened, the bowlers failed unhappy.
Agarwal to-edged Albie Morkel to mid-on, exit the stage to Gayle and Kohli. The West Indian, who had at that stage scored a four-less 11 in as many balls, went crazy when Raina was introduce. 3sixes, all over long-on, ruined Raina's 1st over, and then it was the turn of Shadab Jakati, who was also dispatch right over and beyond the leg-side, the 2nd hit bring up Gayle's fifty in 27 balls.
The grin that spread across Gayle’s face each time he clobbered a bowler indicated how much he was enjoying batting. A century looked on the cards, but Ravindra Jadeja came on to bowl and got rid of the West Indian. Kohli, who had struggle with his timing, got addicted to the act in the 18th over - bowled by Morkel. A pull over mid-wicket, a scamper two - to bring up his 50 - and another savage heave over the boundary, and Kohli had bring Bangalore to the brink of 200.
The last over, however, was anti-climactic. The visitors lost 4 wickets - 3 to Bollinger, one to a run-out - and it took Vinay's last-ball six to heave Bangalore to 205, the top total of IPL-V, which proved inadequate in the face of Morkel's incredible hitting at the far end of Chennai's pursue.
