BANGALORE: They tried their most excellent to make a hash of it, did they not? Twelve were needed from 3 overs, with 7 wickets in hand, when Kings XI Punjab decisive to spice things up.
3 run-outs, within the space of 7 balls for three runs, and Royal Challengers Bangalore were back in the game, with the visiting team needing five off the final over, to be bowled by Vinay Kumar. The 1st ball was a dot. On the 2nd, Vinay dropped a tough return catch of Paras Dogra, and then it was anybody’s game to win, or lose. It was lastly left to Piyush Chawla – that much-maligned bowler of long-hops – to redeem himself with an important maximum over long on. Chawla’s strike net Punjab another away win, one that catapult them to 4th place from 8th and left Bangalore languishin gat 6th.
The four-wicket verdict at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium had appear simple for the most part of Punjab’s chase, as the visitors tided over the early loss of Shaun Marsh and got stirring along nicely through Nitin Saini (50), Mandeep Singh (43) and David Hussey (45). But the rash of run-outs went next to the run of play, setting the stage for Chawla’s match-winning hit in the final over. A day after heavy rain lashed the garden city, pulling down the mercury by a few degrees, Hussey selected to field and restricted Bangalore to 158-5 after Chris Gayle (71) and Virat Kohli (45) had helpless to take the game away.
Bangalore was pegged back mainly due to Man-of-the-match Azhar Mahmood’s warning bowling (4-0-20-3) at the death. Gayle and Kohli, who figured in a century stand, began quietly, as Mayank Agarwal was out inexpensively and as Praveen bowled an excellent opening spell, but picked up momentum as the innings went on. Praveen posed searching question with movement in the air, and even function with two slips to Gayle – a rare sight in Twenty20 cricket. But the 2 saw off the danger of swing to add 119 in fewer than 14 overs.
With Praveen bowling with such manage, Bangalore sought runs at the other end and the West Indian went after Ryan Harris and Parvinder Awana. The score had crawl to 48 in nine overs when the turnaround began. The man to be liable for letting the hosts off the hook was Chawla, who was pummeled repeatedly by Gayle and Kohli, usually over midwicket. Gayle was drop on 39, and he made Punjab pay by wading into Awana for 2 fours and 1 six.
A hapless Abhishek Nayar too was meted out similar treatment, with one hideous hit - by Gayle - whizzing out of the stadium for perhaps the biggest strike of the season. Bangalore was 114 for one at the end of the 14th over, and a full in the vicinity of 180 looked on the cards considering the batsmen in the middle and the batting to come. But Gayle holed out against Azhar Mahmood and Kohli lost his stump to Chawla, peg back their team once again.
Bangalore mustered just 36 in the last 5 overs, and fell way short of what had looked possible when the two set batsmen were calling the shots in the middle. Punjab’s chase began defiantly with Mandeep taking the attack to Zaheer Khan, even hitting India’s vanguard bowler for a beautiful six over square leg. Saini, who hit just 5 boundaries in his 33-ball 50 runs, shared between the wickets, never once allowing the asking rate to creep up. He associated with Mandeep for 35 runs, before partner Hussey in a game-changing 73-run alliance in just 45 balls.
The Aussie club left-arm spinner Appanna for two sixes in the 13th over and gave the same action to Assad Pathan, the aggressive tactics hauling his side to a win despite a cascade of run-outs towards the end.
