On a night of mediocre cricket, Mumbai Indians kept their surprise run going to win the biggest financial tournament in non-international cricket. James Franklin was the only man to keep his head in a suicidal MI innings, which helped them to 139, but the Royal Challengers Bangalore once again choked in a big final to lose despite a start of 38 for 0 in four overs. For the vanquished this was a painful repeat of their IPL final in Johannesburg where they froze while chasing 144. The victors, though, can claim they once again won the big moments: through Franklin’s sober innings, through Lasith Malinga’s two sixes amid a collapse, through an extra over given to Malinga that produced a wicket, and through their spinners’ seven overs for 30 runs and five wickets.

Be that as it may, for a majority of the match the teams seemed to be in a contest for ordinary cricket. There were three run-outs, there were unsavoury slogs resulting in exposed stumps, the winning side bowled 10 out of a total of 13 wides, and one of the keepers kept letting through byes. If Franklin’s smart 41 off 29 suggested a sober man in a Paris Hilton party, the Royal Challengers clearly outdid their opponents. Yes the pitch was slow and it took turn, but not enough to justify the bizarre and spectacular collapse, which featured minimal attempts to take singles with the asking rate around seven.

MI didn’t even know there was turn in for them. As Dilshan hit the ground running in the chase, they made a necessary departure from their usual ways of bowling Malinga for only two overs at the top. Dilshan’s 27 until then had come off shots either through the line or through the covers, and he would have known how desperately MI would have wanted a wicket off what then seemed like a last roll of dice. As it turned out, he swung across the line of a full first delivery, losing his off stump.

Kumar Dharmasena then made a potentially match-turning call, after having reprieved Harbhajan Singh when he was plumb before ruling him out when he wasn’t. This involved Harbhajan too, who fired in quick offbreaks in his first over. The last ball of the over, which had conceded just a wide, was tossed up, and Gayle got a big stride in. The offbreak didn’t turn as much as expected, hit him in front of off, and he was ruled out. The ball had a massive distance to travel, and the ball-tracking predicted it would have hit the outside of off stump. Conventional wisdom would have ruled it in the batsman’s favour, and even Gayle lost his cool when he saw the finger come up.

With an unreliable batting order, pampered by the true Bangalore surface and short boundaries, to follow, it was down to the only survivor of the Royal Challengers’ 2009 choke, Virat Kohli, to shepherd the rest through. However, he found himself batting with a trigger-happy Mayank Agarwal, who despite all his attempts at power hitting managed 14 off 19 before holing out to long-off. Even when the desperate Agarwal got out, the Royal Challengers needed a manageable 73 off 57.

Kohli felt the pinch too. Perhaps it was the presence of Malinga in the end, perhaps it was just the shock of having to work hard for the runs after Bangalore, but even he didn’t show the willingness to take the game to the deep end. In the next over he holed out to deep midwicket. Everybody knew it was game over there and then.

The rest were just a blurry procession of catching and stumping practice. A complete contrast to how Franklin managed a strike-rate of close to 150 without a shot hit in anger. There was no dearth of madness around him either. Sarul Kanwar first ran Aiden Bliazzard out before slogging around a full delivery. Ambati Rayudu struggled to find singles in the middle, and a positive 40-run stand with Suryakumar Yadav ended with a run-out.

Franklin soon caught on with the times, stopping and running in his second to complete the third run-out. Kieron Pollard’s massive leading edge travelled as far as long-off, and MI were in a tailspin after looking good for a repeat of their 160 from the semi-final. Although it didn’t look enough at the moment, Malinga’s two sixes in the end turned out to be surplus.

Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo

Lasith Malinga (4-20) helped Mumbai Indians beat Somerset by 10 runs and set summit clash with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2011 Champions League Twenty20.

Malinga took 4 for 20 in his four overs as Mumbai restricted Somerset to 150/7 in their 20 overs.

Mumbai will now face their IPL opponents Bangalore in the Champions League Twenty20 final in the same ground on Sunday.

James Franklin played an important hand in Mumbai’s victory as he struck twice in the penultimate over to put Mumbai Indians on top.

For Somerset, Craig Kieswetter scored a fine 62 to lead the run chase. Kieswetter hit a six and seven boundaries in his 46-ball knock as he led the Somerset fightback after early blows.

Harbhajan Singh dismissed James Hildreth (39) in the fourteenth over to break the 83-run third wicket stand between Hildreth and Kieswetter for Somerset.

Somerset lost Roelof van der Merwe (10) and Peter Trego (0) early while chasing 161-run target set by Mumbai.

Mumbai pacer Lasith Malinga do what he does best, to take wickets in his initial overs, as he clean bowled both van der Merwe and Trego in his first two overs to jolt the Somerset run chase.

Electing to bat, Rajagopal Sathish (25 not out) and Suryakumar Yadav (23 not out) played some lofty shots in the end to help Mumbai post 160/5 against Somerset.

The duo added valuable quick 43 runs for the sixth wicket to power Mumbai after they lost wickets at regular intervals in the middle part of their innings.

Sathish hit a six and two boundaries in his 12-ball blitzkrieg while Yadav smashed three fours in his 19-ball knock.

Somerset skipper Alfonso Thomas dismissed dangerous Keiron Pollard (24) as Pollard failed to capitalise on a decent start in which he hit two huge sixes in his 18-ball cameo.

Murali Kartik got the prize wicket of in-form Aiden Blizzard (54) soon after Roelof van der Merwe struck in his first over to dismiss James Franklin (6) in the twelfth over to halt the Mumbai charge.

Blizzard scored a fine fifty with the help of three sixes and five boundaries in his quick 39-ball innings.

Adam Dibble dismissed Ambati Rayudu (19) in the eighth over to reduce Mumbai to 62/2 in 7.5 overs. Rayudu played run-a-ball knock as he added 43 runs for the second wicket with Blizzard after losing Sarul Kanwar (2) early.

Mumbai lost opener Kanwar in the fourth over when Steve Kirby struck to give Somerset an early breakthrough.

Earlier, Mumbai skipper Harbhajan Singh won the toss and decided to bat against Somerset on Saturday.

Mumbai left out Andrew Symonds and brought Suryakumar Yadav in his place.

Teams:

Mumbai Indians: Harbhajan Singh (capt), AN Ahmed, AC Blizzard, YS Chahal, JEC Franklin, S Kanwar, SL Malinga, KA Pollard, AT Rayudu (wk), R Sathish, SA Yadav

Somerset: AC Thomas (capt), JC Buttler, NRD Compton, AJ Dibble, JC Hildreth, M Kartik, C Kieswetter (wk), SP Kirby, AV Suppiah, PD Trego, RE van der Merwe.

Source: Times of India

Bring the ramparts from Galle, the wall from China, the many castles from Europe. Bring all the defence buildings, tanks, experts. Place them in the Chinnaswamy Stadium, fast becoming the Wanderers of the north. Hide your 200-plus targets behind them. Chris Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Virat Kolhi will still chase them down at this venue. David Warner tonight became the first man to score back-to-back Twenty20 centuries, but even more incredibly the Royal Challengers Bangalore became the first team to chase down 200-plus scores in consecutive matches, that too with nine balls to spare.

Before the match, Gayle and Warner, soon to be opening partners for New South Wales in the BBL, were seen chatting with each other. When walking back, Warner took a look at Gayle’s bat. He held it sideways, and his jaw dropped looking at the thickness of the leading edge. They both had a laugh, and went their separate ways for the night. Gayle laughed the final laugh, though, as his 92 off 41 in company with Kohli’s unbeaten 84 off 49 outdid Warner’s extraordinary 123 off 68 and Daniel Smith’s 62 off 42. That leading edge was never hit on a night when clean hits tested the size of the stadium, and the half-hits managed to clear the short boundaries. Warner and Gayle dented the roof once each, but Gayle – symbolically – managed to send one of them out of the stadium. Records fell like crops during a hurricane, and the crowd – who must tire of this some day – matched the hitting with their incredible noise, appreciating both teams, only the home side more loudly.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore chose to chase again, packing their side with an extra batsman. Clearly all their eggs were in the basket woven together by Dilshan, Gayle and Kolhi. The basket proved to be strong enough. Incredible as it may sound, it was perhaps Dilshan who made the most crucial contribution even though he managed just four off nine. On a night that the other 34.3 overs went for 407 runs, Dilshan bowled his four overs for 10 runs at the top of the NSW innings. On a night that 26 sixes and 34 fours were hit, Dilshan went for none, as the Royal Challengers registered their least expensive Powerplay overs of this tournament, going for 47 runs. That Dilshan registered the Royal Challengers’ most economic four-over figures was perhaps the most crucial record on a night that must have sent statisticians into frenzy.

Daniel Vettori’s captaincy has come in for a bit of criticism in this event, mainly for under-using his part-time spinners, but he got it right when he asked Dilshan to bowl the first over of the night. It is hard to say if it was the batsmen were a touch too circumspect. The question must only arise because the contrast between his figures and the rest was stark. He did seem to do the right things, though: he didn’t give the batsmen the pace or the rank bad deliveries. That he managed to frustrated Shane Watson into the rare injudicious shot of the night costing him his wicket drew a bit of caution, and he rushed through his quota.

Apart from that, the rest of the NSW innings – the whole match in fact – was carnage, par for the Chinnaswamy course. D Smith cheeked his way to a maiden fifty, even managing to out-strike Warner. He late-cut delicately, drove over cover with aplomb, slogged savagely, and enjoyed a few edges, even as Warner sized up the bowlers and the field, a time bomb ticking over.

Once he got into acceleration mode in the 10th over, hitting a full toss from Sreenath Aravind for four past long-on, there was no stopping him. He scored 81 off the last 33 balls he faced as NSW looted 131 from the last 10.1 overs. Of the 11 sixes that Warner hit, two stood out: the regulation slog over midwicket that hit the roof, the switch-slog off the medium-pace of Raju Bhatkal, which cleared wide long-off with ease. Dirk Nannes, who many believe shouldn’t have been allowed to play this tournament, went for 51 in his four, reaching a tournament economy-rate of 10-42 for a solitary wicket.

Even after 25 runs off the last over, once again damaging poor Aravind’s figures, there was uncertainty around the total. NSW would need to cut singles, keep twos down to one, and take miraculous catches. They dropped three of them. Dilshan’s miss didn’t hurt them much, but Kohli made them pay for two lives. One of them was a sitter drooped Pat Cummins when 44. Ironically, after Cummins had taken three wickets to give NSW another life, the miraculous catch offered itself. Kohli had been under pressure then, the last 14 balls had brought nine runs, and they now needed 24 off 16. A highly unreliable lower order waited. Kohli slogged, the mis-hit went to the right and in front of long-on, Mosies Henriques charged after it, but couldn’t convert the half chance.

Kolhi proceeded to cream off the rest of the target with ease. Just as easy as it had earlier seemed for Kohli and Gayle. It seemed all they needed to do was raise the bat high; by some sort of design, they would hit the ball well and in the gaps. At times Gayle wouldn’t even need the back lift. He just caressed a few full deliveries for parallel sixes and fours. It was a highlights package that had to be further edited for time. The balance between couthness and slogging remained too. A good old friend, the yorker, was sorely missed among the crowd of fancy slower balls of all varieties. The only one produced got NSW a wicket.

Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo

Tillakaratne Dilshan (74) and Virat Kohli (70) guided Royal Challengers Bangalore to clinch a stunning two wickets victory over South Australia Redbacks in the pulsating encounters of Champions League Twenty20.

The hero of the match was Arun Karthik who hit a colossal six on the last ball to seal the victory for the Challengers. Royal Challengers Bangalore will now face New South Wales in the semis at Bangalore.

Pacer Shaun Tait gave South Australia huge breakthrough towards the end as he removed Virat Kohli in their Champions League Twenty20 match against Royal Challengers at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

In the end, Redbacks bowlers have made a come back as they scalped three quick wickets in the span of 25 runs.

Virat Kohli, who made quick-fire 70 off 36 balls, also added valuable second wicket 100 runs stand with Tillakaratne Dilshan to lead Royal Challengers run chase.

Kohli raced to his fifty in 28 balls with the help of five sixes and two fours while Dilshan reached to his half century in 31 balls.

Redbacks’ Daniel Christian dismissed Chris Gayle to give Royal Challengers huge blow. Gayle smacked three huge sixes in his 26 runs innings that came in 15 balls.

Chasing mammoth 215, RCB’s Tillakaratne Dilshan and Chris Gayle started aggressively as Indian outfit raced to fifty in 4.4 overs.

Earlier, electing to bat, the Australian outfit made a mockery of the hapless RCB bowlers to post the highest total in the tournament. The Redbacks have four points and need a victory to take the top slot.

The last six overs produced 92 runs with Sreenath Aravind being hit for 69 runs in his four over spell. The manner in which the left-arm seamer was hit all over the park may seriously dent his chances of making it to the playing XI against England.

For the Australian side, the “Doctor was on call” as Harris (a qualified medical practitioner) was the star of the innings.

The right hander took charge from the word go with his audacious strokes that stunned the RCB bowlers. His magnificent innings was laced with 17 hits to the fence and two sixes one of which was the one which helped him reach his maiden T20 ton.

Ferguson was equally brilliant at the other end, scoring a 43-ball 70, studded with four boundaries and three sixes.

After losing skipper Michael Klinger (7), Harris joined hands with Ferguson as the second wicket pair stitched a belligerent century partnership of 114 runs coming off only 75 balls.

Harris showed no respect to RCB’s left arm seamer Dirk Nannes, hitting him for four consecutive boundaries taking 18 runs in the process. He was particularly severe on Aravind, creaming 28 runs in two overs.

For RCB, Syed Mohammad and Rajoo Bhatkal claimed a wicket apiece.

Teams:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: TM Dilshan, CH Gayle, MA Agarwal, V Kohli, SS Tiwary, KB Arun Karthik, DL Vettori, RR Bhatkal, J Syed Mohammad, DP Nannes, S Aravind

South Australia Redbacks: M Klinger, DJ Harris, TLW Cooper, CJ Ferguson, CJ Borgas, DT Christian, TP Ludeman, AW O’Brien, NM Lyon, KW Richardson, SW Tait

Source: Times of India

Somerset’s captain Alfonso Thomas bowled two strangling spells to ensure his side beat Warriors and qualified for the semi-finals of the Champions League Twenty20. Warriors’ loss meant their net run-rate fell below that of Royal Challengers Bangalore and they became the second South African team, after Cape Cobras, to bow out of the tournament in two days.

Ironically, it was the performance of three South Africa-born players that contributed most to Somerset’s victory. Thomas’ 2 for 16, Craig Kieswetter’s unbeaten 56 and Roelof van der Merwe’s all-round effort closed the door on Warriors.

With the ball turning, and not coming on to the bat, Warriors had to be careful not to fall too far behind the required run-rate. They slipped in the middle stages but it was only in the 19th over – with 23 runs needed off 12 balls – that the match went beyond their grasp. Thomas bowled slower balls throughout, and when he removed big-hitting Craig Thyssen and Wayne Parnell in the same over, the task became too great for Warriors.

They had started positively, as Ashwell Prince and JJ Smuts scored 24 runs in the first three overs. Prince was the first batsman undone by the lack of pace but Smuts formed a solid partnership with Ingram. They battled through a lean patch but struggled to find the boundary, especially against Thomas and young Adam Dibble, who bowled a tight second spell after conceding 13 runs in his first over.

After steering Warriors to 79 in the 12th over, however, both Ingram and Smuts were dismissed in the space of five balls and the new Warriors batsmen could not keep up. Johan Botha, batting at No. 5, tried to take Steve Kirby on but sliced a slow and wide ball high to Arul Suppiah in the deep, who put it down. Three balls later, Botha did the same thing and was caught at long-off.

Nicky Boje and Thyssen were left to score 46 runs from 27 balls. Both tried a few shots but with Somerset’s bowlers not giving much away, they were unable to set-up the win. The margin of defeat was a sizeable 12 runs in the end.

Warriors had started the game brightly, with the wicket of Peter Trego, who was caught behind in the first over after Lonwabo Tsotsobe created pressure with his short of a length deliveries. That good work was completely undone by Wayne Parnell in the second over. Parnell bowled a poor line, conceded 13 runs, and did not bowl for the rest of the innings.

Kieswetter took advantage of Parnell’s wayward leg-side line but it was van der Merwe who sunk his teeth into his countrymen, taking 16 runs off Tsotsobe’s second over. Somerset’s acceleration prompted Botha to change the pace and he introduced left-arm spinner Smuts, who bowled too short in his first over. van der Merwe caned Smuts for two more fours but succumbed to his attacking instinct, top-edging a slog sweep to midwicket to fall for 32 off 16 balls. Botha and Boje took control between overs seven and ten, giving away 18 runs and only one boundary, as they tied Kieswetter and James Hildreth down.

Rusty Theron started his spell with a wide ball that was hit through point for four but recovered well, with fuller and slower deliveries that could not be punished. Botha also juggled his spinners to good effect but four shots spoiled his effort: Kieswetter’s pull over midwicket off Botha, Jos Buttler’s two sixes off Boje – the second of which was the second biggest of the tournament – and Buttler’s straight smack over the sightscreen off Smuts.

Tsotsobe and Theron had to bowl at the death and used variations such as cutters and slower balls. Most of their deliveries were on target but Kieswetter punished anything that wasn’t. He hit boundaries in three of the last four overs, and was the reason Somerset were able to score 36 runs off them.

Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo‘s South Africa correspondent

In a little over an hour the Warner opera knocked the stuffing out of Chennai Super Kings. The Australian opener turned up trumps with a match-winning unbeaten 135 for New South Wales in a crunch match at Chepauk on Tuesday that left the home side gasping for breath.

By the time David Warner finished his and New South Wales innings, CSK were practically out of the match as they were asked to climb a mountain of 202 to get in 17 overs so that they could overtake the Chennai side on run-rate. Eventually, NSW won by 46 runs to advance to the semifinals as first from the group with six points along with Mumbai Indians in second place.

The Super Kings were perilously close to elimination when Cape Cobras almost defended their total in the first match, but they got a new lease of life when T&T came back from the dead. However, CSK’s survival lasted only three more hours as New South Wales sent the hosts to the gallows unceremoniously. The only solace for the homeside was that the spectators who came to the stadium did not have to watch an inconsequential match.

Warner’s 135 off 69 balls had 11 fours and eight towering sixes. The southpaw swept the CSK bowlers with monotonous regularity and most of his sweep shots landed in the stands. One of the rare shots that he played straight off medium-pacer Bravo stunningly cleared the field. Such was the ease with which Warner played that CSK were virtually butchered in the second half of the innings.

There were moments when CSK thought they had come back to life. This was after a solid opening-wicket stand between Warner and Watson which yielded 54 from 6.4 overs. Solid but not yet indicating the carnage that was in store.

Then Smith and Warner put on 100 in no time. Smith was the silent partner with a contribution of 31 off 29 balls as Warner cut loose. The last 15 balls cost CSK 47 runs and when they came back for their chase, they had only three overs fewer to make 200-odd runs. The run-rate factor had added insult to the wounds caused by Warner.

CSK’s chances of getting 202 in 17 overs largely depended on Mike Hussey, who promised much with a short and sweet 37 off 27 balls before he was adjudged lbw to a slower ball from Clark. The asking rate had climbed to 14 and the CSK challenge ended with every passing over.

At the halfway stage of 10 overs, CSK were 88 for three and they began losing more wickets as left-arm spinner O’Keefe took three wickets for 28 runs from his four overs. CSK brought down the shutters at 119 for seven and were 59 runs short when they reached 17 overs.

Teams:

Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt.), R Ashwin, S Badrinath, Doug Bollinger, Dwayne Bravo, Michael Hussey, Shadab Jakati, Suresh Raina, Wriddhiman Saha, M Vijay, KMDN Kulasekara.

New South Wales: Simon Katich (Capt.), Stuart Clark, Pat Cummins, Moises Henriques, Steve O’Keefe, Ben Rohrer, Daniel Smith, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Shane Watson.

Source: Times of India

Kevon Cooper’s 25 off 11 balls saw Trinidad and Tobago beat the Cape Cobras and stay alive in the Champions League T20. Cooper scored 10 runs off Dale Steyn’s fourth over, which cost 15 runs in total, and ensured T&T got the 24 runs they needed in the last two overs. This is the second time in the tournament that Steyn has bowled a costly penultimate over, with the first being against Chennai. The win means Mumbai Indians are through to the semi-finals. T&T’s qualification depends on Chennai Super Kings beating New South Wales by a small margin. The Super Kings can also qualify if they win by a sufficient margin, while any victory for NSW puts them through.

Steyn turned from hero to villain in the space of an hour and a half; he started the Cobras defence of 137 with a magnificent three-over spell of outswing bowling. He demonstrated real skill on a dead pitch, consistently beat the outside edge and was rewarded in his second over when he got one to straighten and trap William Perkins lbw.

Steyn’s colleagues were not as effective from the other end: Charl Langeveldt and Rory Kleinveldt struggled with their accuracy. Kleinveldt bowled three no-balls in an extraordinary over that only cost six runs and included the wicket of Lendl Simmons. Langeveldt was better when he changed ends and used the slower ball to good effect.

Adrian Barath and Darren Bravo’s third-wicket partnership of 35 runs helped T&T recover from the loss of their openers. They rotated strike well, searched for the singles and, after Barath was dropped by Vilas behind the stumps, he connected well to score two, big boundaries.

Justin Kemp ensured that Barath could not continue attacking and hurled down a yorker to remove Barath’s leg stump. The next ball, Daren Ganga was back in the hut too, after inside-edging onto his stumps. Kemp did not complete a hat-trick but took his third wicket two overs later, removing Bravo, who had played a sensible knock until then.

T&T would have thought their last hopes lay with Denesh Ramdin, who survived the hat-trick ball, and played some deft strokes. Ramdin and Sherwin Ganga took 13 runs off JP Duminy’s second over and infused the chase with momentum. They were dismissed in the space of four balls, Ganga lbw to Langeveldt and Ramdin bowled by a flighted delivery from Robin Peterson.

It was left to Cooper to bat bravely and he did. His first six was a slog off Peterson and, after Rampaul steered Steyn to the third man boundary, Cooper bludgeoned a high full toss over long-off, to leave T&T with only nine to get off the final six balls. In a final twist, Rampaul was dismissed with the first ball of the last over but Cooper smashed a low full toss for four and plucked the remaining runs with two balls to spare.

The Cobras would have felt their total was 10 runs short after a gritty batting effort, in which their strokeplay was constantly stifled. The T&T spinners troubled the Cobras batsmen from the start with Richard Levi at sea against Samuel Badree. He was bowled by Badree’s second delivery, after playing for turn that was not there. Herschelle Gibbs was also dismissed cheaply after a cautious start.

Owais Shah and Dane Vilas built an impressive recovery. Shah started with an authoritative flick and maintained a busy approach at the crease, even though he could have been dismissed twice by Badree. The legspinner had a confident appeal for lbw against Shah when he hit him on the pads with a full delivery but Billy Bowden turned it down. During Badree’s second spell, he beat Shah and the ball looked destined for middle and leg stump but Badree was turned down for the third time. Shah went on to anchor the Cobras innings and ground out a half-century.

Sherwin Ganga was the man both Vilas and Shah targeted, scoring plenty of runs off him, particularly through midwicket. Ganga’s offspin they could handle, but Sunil Narine proved almost impossible to read and both employed a watchful approach against him. His legbreak, eventually got the better of Vilas, who top-edged to cover after a well crafted half-century. Shah had to hang around until the end and, even after bringing up his fifty, batting did not get any easier for him. Boundaries were rare and run-scoring came in ones and twos, which had to be manufactured, rather than simply being there for the taking. JP Duminy also couldn’t find the boundary and was bowled by a Cooper cutter when he went looking for one.

Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo‘s South Africa correspondent

Riding high on Chris Gayle (86 off 46 balls) special, Royal Challengers Bangalore thumped Somerset by 51 runs in their crucial Champions League Twenty20 Group B game at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

With this comfortable victory, RCB kept their semifinals hopes alive in the tournament.

Chasing 207-run target, Somerset lost their hopes for a win when Raju Bhatkal dismissed Peter Trego (58) after a fine knock against Bangalore. Trego hit three sixes and six boundaries in his 38-ball impressive innings.

Somerset lost wickets quickly in the later stages as they tried to chase the ever rising required run-rate and finished their innings at 155/6 in their stipulated 20 overs.

After Dirk Nannes removed James Hildreth (15) in the eleventh over, Trego completed his fifty off just 31 balls with the help three huge sixes and six boundaries.

Hildreth and Trego added crucial 61-run stand for the third wicket for Somerset.

Bangalore skipper Daniel Vettori dismissed Roelof van der Merwe (6) and Craig Kieswetter (26) in his first over to halt Somerset run chase.

Somerset openers started their run chase aggressively and added 42 runs before Vettori struck in the fifth over to reduce them to 48/2 in 4.5 overs.

Earlier, Chris Gayle slammed 86 off 46 balls, including eight huge sixes, to lead Royal Challengers to 206/6 against Somerset on Monday.

Gayle smashed eight huge sixes and four boundaries in his 46-ball blitzkrieg. Gayle started his innings steadily against his natural instinct as he took 25 balls for his first 29 runs but soon changed his gear to fast mode as he hit maximums with ease.

Bangalore lost Gayle and Mayank Agarwal (19) in consecutive balls, which halted the momentum in the end for the hosts against Somerset. RCB then lost captain Vettori in the next over, penultimate over, but Arun Karthik hit a six in the final over to make sure that they crossed 200-run mark.

Sourabh Tiwary (18) became Steve Kirby’s second victim as RCB were reduced to 157/3 in 15.3 overs. Tiwary hit a six and a four and added 49 runs for the third wicket with Gayle.

Steve Kirby dismissed Virat Kohli (33) in the twelfth over and ended the dangerous partnership between the right-handed batsman and Gayle.

Kohli slammed a six and four boundaries in his fine 22-ball knock as RCB raced to 100 in 10.3 overs. Soon after Kohli’s departure Gayle raced to his fifty off 31 balls with four fours and similar number of sixes.

After losing T Dilshan (23) in the fifth over, Kohli and Gayle dominated the proceedings as they added 70 runs in just 40 balls.

Dilshan hit a six and four boundaries in his quick 16-ball innings and added 38 runs for the opening wicket with Gayle before van der Merwe clean bowled him in the fifth over.

Earlier, Somerset skipper Alfonso Thomas won the toss and decided to field against Royal Challengers on Monday.

Bangalore have left out Mohammed Kaif and brought in Arun Karthik.

Teams:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: TM Dilshan (wk), CH Gayle, MA Agarwal, V Kohli, SS Tiwary, KB Arun Karthik, DL Vettori (capt), RR Bhatkal, J Syed Mohammad, DP Nannes, S Aravind

Somerset: C Kieswetter (wk), PD Trego, RE van der Merwe, JC Hildreth, NRD Compton, JC Buttler, AV Suppiah, GH Dockrell, SP Kirby, AC Thomas (capt), M Kartik

Source: Times of India

Fine bowling by Sunil Narine (3/8) helped Trinidad & Tobago beat Chennai Super Kings by 12 runs to register their first win in the Champions League Twenty20 at MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on Sunday.

Narine dismissed Murali Vijay, Suresh Raina and skipper MS Dhoni to guide West Indian outfit towards victory, which also placed defending champion at the bottom of the table of Group A.

Both the teams have won a single game out of three matches and it seems unlikely for them to make it to the semifinals.

Subramaniam Badrinath, who showed some resistance to stay on the crease, was sent back to the pavilion by Daren Ganga’s brilliant field work.

Ravi Rampaul and Kevon Cooper also joined the party as they removed Mike Hussey and Wriddhiman Saha respectively to reduce Chennai to 48/4 in 9.6 overs.

T&T’s Sunil Narine gave Chennai Super Kings double jolt as he dismissed Murali Vijay and Suresh Raina in his successive overs.

Earlier, Doug Bollinger took three wickets and Shadab Jakati scalped two as Chennai restricted Trinidad and Tobago to 123/8.

Bollinger dismissed Sherwin Ganga and Kevon Cooper in the last over of the T&T innings.

Cooper hit 3 sixes and a four in his 10-ball 28.

Bollinger clean bowled Adrian Barath to reduce T&T to 92/6.

Dwayne Bravo struck against his former team when he trapped Denesh Ramdin plumb in front of the wicket.

T&T captain Daren Ganga continued his poor form with the bat when he edged a R Ashwin delivery high up in the air for Suresh Raina to take the catch.

Jakati dismissed William Perkins and Darren Bravo in successive overs.

Jakati first had Perkins caught by S Badrinath at backward point. Perkins hit 2 sixes and 2 fours in his 28-ball 34.

T&T lost their second wicket in the next over when Lendl Simmons failed to beat the throw from Wriddhiman Saha into the hands of MS Dhoni, who removed the stumps.

Jakati then took his second wicket when he took a good return catch to dismiss Bravo.

The breakthroughs came after Trinidad and Tobago captain Daren Ganga won the toss and chose to bat.

T&T brought in William Perkins in place of Jason Mohammed. The Super Kings are unchanged from the last match.

Teams:

Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt.), Murali Vijay, Michael Hussey, Suresh Raina, S Badrinath, Albie Morkel, Dwayne Bravo, Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, Doug Bollinger, Shadab Jakati.

Trinidad and Tobago: Daren Ganga (Capt.), Lendl Simmons, William Perkins, Adrian Barath, Darren Bravo, Denesh Ramdin, Sherwin Ganga, Kevon Cooper, Ravi Rampaul, Sunil Narine, Samuel Badree.

Source: Times of India

he got the key wicket of Kieron Pollard, who looked to bludgeon a full ball over midwicket. In the four overs he and Clark bowled from the fifth to the eighth, only five runs were scored.

Much then depended on Andrew Symonds. He has not looked his old effervescent self in this tournament, and he struggled today as well. A charge down the track to swipe Steve O’Keefe ended with the ball crashing into the top of off stump and Mumbai Indians were gasping at 51 or 5 after 12 overs.

Franklin, subjected to some criticism before the game over his position at No. 4 in the line-up, cut out the Hollywood strokes his team-mates attempted, preferring to play straight, highlighted by a perfectly timed on-drive off Moises Henriques for four. Even as he lost partners regularly, he kept poking the ball around, ensuring Mumbai Indians at least avoided the ignominy of finishing their innings with a double-digit score.

NSW weathered the first over of the chase from the chief threat, Lasith Malinga. It was Nechim, though, who made the big breakthroughs, removing both openers, Shane Watson and David Warner, in his first over. With Malinga then dismissing Simon Katich courtesy a trademark swinging yorker, Daniel Smith nicking Nechim behind after attempting a footwork-less slash, and Henriques picking up a duck on being given lbw to a spinning delivery from Yuzvendra Chahal that pitched outside leg, Mumbai were well and truly in it.

Steven Smith and Rohrer then stabilised the innings and slowly took the game away from Mumbai. With the spinners operating, the batsmen used their feet well to punch the ball for singles. It wasn’t till the 13th over of the chase that the first six of the match was struck, Smith clouting Chahal over midwicket. A Franklin long hop was helped to fine leg for four, a wide Malinga yorker was chopped past point for four more before a bunch of boundaries from Smith settled the match in the 17th over.

Siddarth Ravindran is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo