Challengers beat Warriors in a thriller

Bangalore: Saurabh Tiwary and AB de Villiers smashed 21 runs off Ashish Nehra's last over as Royal Challengers Bangalore came out of nowhere to steal a 6-wicket win over Pune Warriors at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here, on Tuesday after Chris Gayle have set the home side on the path of big speed with a murderous 81 .

Set a target of 183 by Pune, Bangalore was jolt when Gayle was clean up by a Nehra yorker and with 56 needed off 26 balls; the Indian paceman knew the scale had skewed yet again. What followed rival the frenzy of Chris Gayle assault. Ashok Dinda bowled a great 19th over for just 7run, leaving Bangalore 21 to get in the final over.

Nehra limited Tiwary to a single on the 1st ball. De Villiers lost his balance 2nd ball attempting a Dil-scoop, and yet managed to get the ball to the four. Immediately the South African made amends for his off-kilter shot with 2 fantastic sixes.

Nehra was confused. Four needed off 2balls, as the rain came down, but nobody, least of the batsmen, were in the mood to troop off. De Villiers scampered a single, leaving the home team 3 runs to get for a excellent last-ball win. The left-arm paceman charged in, erred on the fuller side and Tiwary - may the Lord sanctify his brave soul - flat-batted it with every his might over long-on.

What a win for Bangalore, and what a wonderful performance by the man who set it up - Gayle! The West Indian hammered 6 sixes - 5 successively off a distraught Rahul Sharma after an unusually subdued start. He scored just 3 off his 1st 8 balls, but garnered momentum with a four and a couple of sixes against Nehra early in his knock. The hulking West Indian reached a swelling of brutality when a series of 4, 6, 6, 6, 6, and 6 sought to salvage Bangalore, who was stare down the barrel at 72 for 3 in the 12th over.

Such was Gayle's power on the contest that it overshadows the exploits of Pune after they had selected to bat. Robin Uthappa and Jesse Ryder lived up to their promise of not reserved aggression at the top of the order. Uthappa made clear his intent in the 2nd over, slog-sweeping Dilshan for 6, and kept the fours flowing as Ryder too got into act at the other end.

The pair added 63 in 7 overs, at which point the chunky New Zealander top-edged and was held at Deep Square. Ganguly came and not here in a hurry, timing a sweet cut directly into the hands of Mayank Agarwal at deep point, but Uthappa nonstop to get fast runs and reached his half-century in 33 balls with a boundary off Dilshan.

The great right-hander was handed a couple of reprieve - a missed run-out by Dilshan and a rough high chance by Apanna at the long-off boundary - but was unable to create the lives count as he was out after adding just8 to his score. It was time then for Marlon Samuels to make it happen. The West Indian sped to a 20-ball 34, adding 47 in under 5 overs with Steve Smith, as Pune looked set, shortly, to breach the 200 mark, but fell well short of the magical mark.

Man of the match:

Chris Gayle

Today Match {18-04-12}

Kings XI Punjab

Kolkata Knight Riders

(20:00 local | 14:30 GMT)

Chennai super king win the match in a last ball thriller

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.