In a yawn-inducing crawl, Deccan Chargers meandered to 82, the lowest total of the season, and Royal Challengers Bangalore knocked it off without much fuss to book their spot in the next Champions League.

Not many people bothered to turn up for the game, nine Deccan batsmen scored less than five runs and a dull, almost anaesthetic, atmosphere prevailed through their innings. Adam Gilchrist’s early dismissal set the tone for the innings: It was a slow gentle full toss from Anil Kumble and while it was in its trajectory you felt it was going to be smashed for a six but Gilchrist contrived to hit it to deep backward square-leg where Jacques Kallis took a neat catch.

It was that kind of a dull and dreary night. Perhaps the loss in semi-final had sapped Deccan, perhaps it was just one of those nights when nothing went right for them and it made for almost painful watching experience.

Bangalore ticked off all the boxes that were required of them: Kumble showed his intent by opening against Gilchrist, Praveen Kumar mixed his cutters with slower ones in a tight spell, and Dale Steyn, though not as pacy as he has been in this tournament so far, was accurate to keep the batsmen in check. Monish Mishra played all around a straight delivery from Praveen to be trapped in front and Rohit Sharma threw his wicket away with a lame pull shot to mid-on.

Much depended on Andrew Symonds at that stage and he even got a reprieve when Steyn ran in too much at fine-leg to drop a catch but he fell on the very next delivery. He backed away to try force Steyn through the off side but edged it behind to the keeper to leave Deccan struggling at 27 for 4 in 6.1 overs. And it soon turned to 35 for 5 when a clueless Dwayne Smith had his Richard Blakey moment against Kumble: It was a slider that came in from just outside off but Smith stabbed at thin air and looked slightly sheepish when he lost his off stump.

It was only due to Anirudh Singh, one of many changes in the Deccan set-up for this game, that Deccan avoided complete embarrassment. He probably would pick a sliced square-drive over backward point off Steyn as his top shot though a thumping drive over covers off a slower one from the same bowler too caught the eye. There was even a six against Nayan Doshi, who made an impressive IPL debut, but Anirudh mainly dealt in nudged singles. When he fell in the 16th over, bowled by Kallis, Deccan lost their only hope of reaching 100.

Rahul Dravid and Kallis ensured Bangalore got off to a solid start and once they achieved it, it was always going be a just a stroll in the park for them. Though Kallis fell in the eight over, Dravid guided Bangalore through in the company of Kevin Pietersen.

Sriram Veera is a staff writer at Cricinfo

Everything changed in the last five overs of the Mumbai Indians’ innings. The game was in a dead-lock at the end of 15 overs with Mumbai on 107 for 4 – some might have even felt that Royal Challengers Bangalore held the edge – but things changed dramatically from then on. Saurabh Tiwary hit an enterprising fifty and Kieron Pollard played a delightful cameo to charge Mumbai to a strong 184 for 5 at the DY Patil Stadium. It was a bridge too far even for the batting-heavy Bangalore and they never really threatened to get anywhere close to the target.

It was always going to be a difficult chase and things really got really tough for Bangalore in the tenth over with the fall of Robin Uthappa and Rahul Dravid in successive deliveries. Bangalore had reached 80 for 2 from nine overs and had already lost Kevin Pietersen to a smart leg-side stumping by Ambati Rayudu off Harbhajan Singh, when they suffered the twin blows that effectively killed the contest. Uthappa was in hot form, having just collected 18 runs from Harbhajan’s over with the help of two thumping sixes, when he dragged a slower one straight to deep midwicket.

Before Bangalore could recover from that asphyxiating blow, they lost Dravid, who had played a fluent knock, to a run out resulting from a misunderstanding with Ross Taylor. And though Taylor hung around for a while, he couldn’t produce any minor miracle tonight. Bangalore were left to rue their ordinary effort in the field in the last five overs where they lost the game.

The game actually changed in character twice during Mumbai’s innings: first after the first time-out was taken at the end of seven overs, and second from the 15th over onwards. Mumbai had recovered after the early fall of Sachin Tendulkar, courtesy a impish knock from Ambati Rayudu who counterattacked initially before settling down, to reach 62 for 2 in seven overs, but were gradually choked by the onset of the slower bowlers. In the next six overs, before the second time-out was taken, only 31 runs came with the addition of two wickets. Things looked desperate for Mumbai when Tiwary looted 17 runs from the 16th over bowled by Jacques Kallis to turn things around.

The first delivery, a slower one, was swung over the midwicket boundary, the fourth was bludgeoned to midwicket for a four and the fifth ran away to fine-leg boundary via a inside-edge. Mumbai had broken free and continued to indulge themselves in the end overs.

Ironically, Anil Kumble, who until then had combined well with Pietersen, who found spin and hence the respect from the batsmen, to restrict Mumbai, was to give back the initiative as he conceded 17 runs in the 17th over. It was Tiwary, again, who did the damage. He made use of a free hit to collect a boundary to backward square-leg before flat-batting a six to the straight boundary as Kumble’s visage grew angrier. It was the image of the night.

Pollard joined in the fun right in the end, with his big lofted drives, to further push Mumbai on. Pollard pinged the long-off boundary with two sixes against Vinay Kumar and slugged Dale Steyn over long-on for another six as Mumbai finished off in style. And so, after 41 days of non-stop action, Mumbai enter their first final in the three years of IPL.

Sriram Veera is a staff writer at Cricinfo

Kieron Pollard took three wickets as Mumbai Indians beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 57 runs in their IPL clash at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

Chasing a stiff victory target of 192, Bangalore were never in the game losing wickets at regular intervals.

The hosts got off to a poor start as they lost openers Manish Pandey and Jacques Kallis in successive overs with 31 runs on the board.

Zaheer Khan took a good catch as Dilhara Fernando dismissed Manish Pandey to give Mumbai Indians the first breakthrough.

In the next over, Kallis edged a Ryan McLaren onto his stumps.

Harbhajan Singh then dismissed Rahul Dravid and Kevin Pietersen in successive overs to reduce Bangalore to 72/4.

Bangalore effectively lost the match when Pollard dismissed Robin Uthappa to pin down the hosts to 74/5.

Earlier, Mumbai Indians top order powered their team to an imposing 191/4.

Jean-Paul Duminy top scored for his team with an unbeaten 42 that came off 19 balls and was studded with 3 sixes and 3 fours.

Duminy’s swashbuckling knock came after Kieron Pollard and Ryan McLaren were dismissed in successive overs.

McLaren hit a 42-ball 40 before falling lbw to Kevin Pietersen in the over after Bangalore captain Anil Kumble trapped Pollard plumb in front of the wicket. Pollard hit 20 runs off 7 balls and smashed 3 consecutive sixes off Pankaj Singh.

Ambati Rayudu hit 4 sixes and 3 fours in his 27-ball 46 after the dismissal of his captain Sachin Tendulkar before being dismissed by Jacques Kallis.

Ross Taylor took a good catch at deep mid-wicket to give Kallis his first wicket in the form of Tendulkar.

Tendulkar’s dismissal came after Royal Challengers Bangalore bowled and fielded well to deny Mumbai Indians a brisk start.

Tendulkar hit 3 fours in his 18-ball 19 after Kumble won the toss and opted to bowl.

Teams:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Anil Kumble (Capt.), Jacques Kallis, Manish Pandey, Kevin Pietersen, Robin Uthappa, Ross Taylor, Virat Kohli, Rahul Dravid, R Vinay Kumar, Pankaj Singh, Dale Steyn.

Mumbai Indians: Sachin Tendulkar (Capt.), Ryan McLaren, Aditya Tare, Saurabh Tiwary, Ambati Rayudu, Jean-Paul Duminy, Kieron Pollard, Abhishek Nayar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Dilhara Fernando.

On a slow pitch that lacked bounce, Royal Challengers Bangalore restricted Rajasthan to 130 before they knocked it off without much fuss to win a crucial encounter in Jaipur. With this crushing win, Bangalore now move to second position in the points table.

It was a disciplined performance from Royal Challengers Bangalore who kept things simple and let Rajasthan’s top order collapse under the pressure of setting a target. Shane Warne said at the toss that he reckoned 165-170 was a par total and perhaps, the attempt to set a big target did them in. The pitch too, certainly, played its part and they lost their way.

The chase was over in a blink, with Kevin Pietersen taking complete control of the innings with an entertaining and aggressive knock. He looted 18 runs in the fourth over, bowled by Kamran Khan, with the help of four boundaries – a slapped four, a muscled hit over mid-off, a scorching off-drive and a pulled six. When he collected three more boundaries in the sixth, bowled by Adam Voges, Bangalore were comfortably on course. The only hope left for Rajasthan was whether Shane Warne could produce any magic but Pietersen and Robin Uthappa went after him in style to deliver the killer blow.

Though their bowling lacked bite, it was the batsmen who let down Rajasthan today. Things went wrong right from the start when Michael Lumb was run out trying to steal a single to backward point. The new batsman Amit Paunikar fell for a first-ball duck, edging an attempted hook to the keeper. The worst shot from a top-order batsman, though, was from Naman Ojha who heaved a back-of-length delivery from outside off to mid-on. In a blink, Rajasthan had slipped to 21 for 3 in 3.2 overs and though Shane Watson attempted a repair job, there was never a phase of play where Rajasthan dominated.

Once the top order collapsed and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, who likes to stay beside the line and thread the off side, struggled to pierce a packed off-side field, it was obvious that the responsibility of scoring runs would fall on Watson and Yusuf Pathan. And they seemed to have a plan. Jhunjhunwala would try to hit out while Watson would drop anchor, but with Jhunjhunwala failing to get any momentum, Watson tryied to force the pace, and fell. He pulled Jacques Kallis low to the right of square-leg where Kevin Pietersen took a sharp catch to leave Rajasthan wobbling at 53 for 4.

Much depended on Yusuf at that stage but he was kept quiet by a barrage of short-pitched deliveries. Some kicked up shoulder high, some reared towards his chest and some jumped just above his waist but, collectively, it was enough to keep him in check. He edged the pull shots, was late on attempted hooks, couldn’t connect with his upper cuts and his mode of dismissal showed his mindset. When Dale Steyn, who turned in yet another impressive spell of pace bowling, came on to bowl at him, Yusuf expected a short delivery first-up and retreated well inside the crease. However, Steyn surprised him with a full delivery that curved away gently and Yusuf, rooted to his crease, couldn’t get bat to ball. It could have been worse for Rajasthan, who were struggling at 72 for 6, but Adam Voges played a calm hand, along with Abhishek Raut, to ensure they crossed 100.

For Bangalore, each bowler impressed with his discipline: Pankaj Singh hit the full length and varied his pace, Vinay Kumar hit the back of length, Steyn troubled with his pace and variations in length, Kallis used his offcutters to good effect and Kumble was, well, his typical nagging self. They kept Rajasthan down to an under-par score, and Pietersen finished them off.

Sriram Veera is a staff writer at Cricinfo

Rohit Sharma struck a vital half-century and shared 82 runs for the fourth-wicket with Mohnish Mishra (41) as title holders Deccan Chargers beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 13 runs to stay afloat for a semifinal spot in the Indian Premier League on Monday.

Rohit (51 off 46) and Mohnish Mishra (41 off 30) resurrected the Deccan innings with the 60-ball valuable partnership to guide the defending champions to 151 for six after Dale Steyn (3/18) did the early damage with three quick wickets.

And then the Deccan bowlers rose to the occasion with RP Singh (2/21), Pragyan Ojha (2/22), Harmeet Singh (2/24) and Ryan Harris (2/34) sharing eight wickets among themselves to bowl out the Royal Challengers for 138 in 19.4 overs.

Rahul Dravid top-scored for Royal Challengers with a classical 49 while Robin Uthappa made a breezy 34 off 20 balls.

Chasing the modest target, Royal Challengers did not have the perfect start as Ryan Harris struck in his and innings’ first delivery for Deccan.

The Australian pacer found Manish Pandey fishing at a moving delivery, only to get a thick edge which Deccan skipper Adam Gilchrist obliged with both hands.

But then came in Rahul Dravid who looked in great touch. He opened his account with a copy book drive off Harris and then welcomed Andrew Symonds with two boundaries in his first over.

Harmeet also faced the brunt of Dravid’s aggression as he hit the medium pacer for back-to-back boundaries.

However, Dravid’s 35-ball beautiful innings, which was studded with eight fours, was halted by Symonds just one run before the half century as the right-hander hit one straight to Sumanth at the long-off boundary.

Dravid’s downfall seemed to have pumped Deccan as they picked three more wickets in consecutive overs to claw back into the game.

Ojha displayed some fine left-arm spin bowling and accounted for two Bangalore batsmen — Jacques Kallis and Virat Kohli — during his four overs spell.

He first got the vital wicket of tournament’s highest run-getter Jacques Kallis (25 off 37), caught by Sumanth and then had Kohli out in identical fashion.

RP Singh too picked up two crucial wickets to help his side’s cause. The left-arm pacer disturbed Ross Taylor’s timbers with a beauty of a yorker and then picked up Cameron White in his next over, caught by Symonds.

However, in-form Uthappa had other plans. Needing 39 off the last three overs, he clobbered Harris twice over the boundary to bring it down to 18 off 12 balls.

But then came the deciding moment of the match as Harmeet not only clean bowled dangerman Uthappa and then had Steyn lbw in the next delivery, but conceded only one run in the penultimate over.

In the end it proved to be a tall task for the Bangalore tailenders to score 17 runs off the final over as they could manage only three.

Earlier, Steyn justified his captain Anil Kumble’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss with double strike in the opening over. The South African pacer sent packing both Gilchrist and T Suman for one-ball duck to mark a dream start for the Bangalore side.

Steyn first induced a thin edge from Gilchrist’s willow in the fourth ball of the innings which Uthappa had no problems in grasping behind the stumps and then had Suman caught at the backward short-leg by Taylor after the right-hander failed to negotiate a short delivery.

Steyn again came to the party in his next over, going through Herschelle Gibbs’ (12) defence to register his third wicket of the day and see Deccan in a spot of bother at 14 for three.

But from there on Rohit and Mishra played sensibly and mixed caution with aggression to drag their side out of trouble.

Mishra was at his aggressive best as he hit Kumble, Kohli and KP Appanna for a six each apart from the lone boundary off Kallis before his 30-ball stay at the crease was cut short by an unnecessary run out.

Rohit too did not lag behind as he struck seven boundaries during his 46-ball innings — three of which came of Kallis in the 12th over.

Rohit was also involved in a 30-ball 35-run fifth wicket stand with Symonds (19 off 20) before the former Australian all-rounder was stumped by Uthappa off Kumble.

But just when it was time to step up the accelerator Rohit departed, caught by Pandey off R Vinay Kumar after he went for a big shot in search of quick runs.

Harris came up with a handy nine-ball 13-run unbeaten innings, while Sumanth remained unconquered on six to help Deccan get past the 150 mark.

Source: Times of India

In a must win match to stay in the race for a berth in the semis, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) late Saturday beat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by seven wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium in this cricket crazy tech hub.

With this sweet victory on home ground, Challengers bounce back to second position in the league table with 12 points from 11 matches, winning six and losing five.

Chasing a modest target of 161 at a run rate of 8 per over, Challengers cruised to victory in 17.1 overs by scoring 164 for three wickets, thanks to a fiery knock by local lad Robin Uthappa, who smashed 52 runs in just 22 balls, lofting five mighty sixes and thrice finding the ropes.

New Zealander Ross Taylor, who walked into the middle after the fall of the ‘wall’ Rahul Dravid in the 14th over with the score at 102, finished the game on a winning note, with a four to remain unbeaten in a 62-run fourth wicket partnership with Uthappa.

Though the tournament’s top scorer Jacques Kallis got out cheaply for 8 in the third over, the dependable Rahul Dravid and new opener Sridharan Sriram steadied the innings from 11 to 83 in 11 overs and put on a commendable 72-run partnership for the second wicket.

The home team, which lost to Knight Riders in their opening match at Kolkata March 14, avenged the defeat by restricting their opponents to 160 for nine wickets in the stipulated 20 overs.

Though Riders began on a cautious note, openers Sourav Ganguly and Chris Gayle steadied the innings to score the first 50 in 5 overs and 100 in 11 overs.

After the fall off Gayle for 34 at 52 and Ganguly for 33 at 103, Riders struggled to maintain their momentum and lost three wickets for 2 runs in a span of 14 balls.

Brendon McCullum, however, kept the score ticking with a swashbuckling 45 containing five hits to the ropes and two sixes.

Medium pacer Vinay Kumar was the most successful bowler for the Challengers, with three crucial wickets for just 23 runs, followed by Jacques Kallis with two wickets for 31 runs. Kumble and Dale Steyn shared one wicket each.

There were two brilliant run outs. Extras were 11.

Source: Yahoo

It was just another day at the office for Deccan Chargers until T Suman became their first Indian domestic cricketer to perform, guiding an improbable chase and keeping his team alive in the tournament. Good start with the ball, falling apart at the end – it was a familiar script until Suman wrote new lines, scoring 78 off 57 from No 3. Andrew Symonds, who had conceded 23 in the 17th over, facilitated a 21-run 17th over during the chase en route to 53 off 24 balls, as Deccan went about scoring more than 100 in the last 10 overs.

Deccan bowled well to have Royal Challengers Bangalore at 68 for 4 in the 11th over, but seemed to have forgotten how to bowl when they went for 92 runs in the last six. Once again, during the chase, Adam Gilchrist scored a quick thirty but failed to convert it into anything substantial.

Suman, however, had been promoted to No. 3 and Deccan had reached the 11th over by the time Gilchrist’s 19-ball 32 ended. Gilchrist didn’t get much strike, and Suman had put his share to good use, reaching 41 off 34. It wasn’t the cleanest innings: stylish hits off length balls were offset by streaky boundaries off inside edges.

In the next over Rohit Sharma fell too, leaving Deccan with 90 to get off 50 balls. The turnaround started with a thick edge from Symonds, but he followed with a four off a yorker next ball. Suman followed suit, hitting Anil Kumble for a six to bring up his fifty in the next over, and 62 off 33 didn’t read much worse than from where they started.

The streaky shots from Suman had disappeared by then, and he continued with a six off Vinay Kumar in the 16th over, but the symbolic moment was yet to come. Symonds had to make good for his bowling effort, and make good he did by thumping Praveen Kumar. An edge flew over the keeper, a slower ball was deposited over midwicket, and a yorker-gone-wrong hit into the sight screen. Forty-nine from 24 balls had become 28 off 18, and from there it was only a matter of avoiding the famous Deccan choke.

Suman took the lead, hitting Dale Steyn for four after he seemed to have found a good yorker rhythm. Symonds upset Kallis’ rhythm when he missed the yorker by about a foot, and finished the game by hitting Vinay for a six and a four off the first two balls of the last over.

It should never have been that big a chase for Deccan. They had Bangalore struggling, but let them double their 14-over score, vindicating their reputation as the worst bowling side at the death, taking their tournament economy-rate in last six overs to 11.44 an over. Next-worst is 9.89.

Despite little support from Harmeet Singh, RP Singh and Mitchell Marsh, Ryan Harris had managed to keep Bangalore down to 46 for 1 at the end of the Powerplay. Harris went for just five in two of those overs. Ojha and Symonds followed Harris’ good work with three wickets in three overs, including the massive ones of Robin Uthappa and Ross Taylor.

In the last six overs, though, Jacques Kallis and Virat Kohli went berserk in the absence of yorkers and abundance of length balls and hit six sixes and eight fours in the last six overs, as opposed to two sixes and seven fours in the first 14. Kallis reiterated his importance in the line-up with his sixth fifty of the tournament, and Kohli showed he could dabble in the power-hitting business too, going from 12 off 18 to 58 off 35. One of his sixes hit the roof at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, but by the end of the night their semi-final prospects – almost a certainty before the match started – had taken a hit.

Sidharth Monga is a staff writer at Cricinfo

Paul Collingwood struck a breezy 46-ball 75 before bowlers wrecked havoc as Delhi Daredevils inched closer towards booking a semifinal berth beating Royal Challengers Bangalore by 37 runs in their Indian Premier League match here on Sunday.

Openers Virender Sehwag (35) and David Warner (33) set the tone but it was Collingwood’s blitzkrieg, bejewelled with three fours and seven sixes, that catapulted Daredevils to a competitive 184 for five after the home team skipper Gautam Gambhir opted to bat first.

The hosts then put up a disciplined bowling performance to restrict Bangalore to 147 for nine to keep their slate clean against the Anil Kumble-led side and moved one place up to the second spot in points tally.

Spinner Amit Mishra and paceman Pradeep Sangwan picked up three wickets each giving away 32 and 22 runs respectively, while Farveez Maharoof, Daniel Vettori and Rajat Bhatia accounted for one wicket apiece at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium.

South African Jacques Kallis picked up his fifth fifty of IPL 3 but his 42-ball 54 was not enough as the Bangalore outfit lost wickets at regular intervals and was left to do the catch up act after a slow start to their run-chase.

Chasing 185 to win, Bangalore rushed to 25 in three overs after Kallis slammed two fours in the first over and picked up a couple more in the next two overs.

But opener Cameron White’s (4) wicket in the fourth over put brakes on the RCB innings as Kallis and Kevin Pietersen picked up ones and twos to build up the innings.

However, Sangwan’s yorker cleaned up Pietersen as RCB slumped to 52 for two in 9.2 overs.

Kallis and Robin Uthappa then tried to break the shackles and picked up a couple of sixes off Daniel Vettori in the 11th over, but Warner took a stunning catch to get rid off Uthappa in the next over.

Needing 105 off 45 balls, Ross Taylor walloped three sixes — two over mid-wicket and one over square-leg — to take Bangalore to 105 for three in 14 overs.

But Taylor’s 10-ball 22 innings was cut short by Bhatia when he had the New Zealander trapped in front of the wickets.

Kallis also perished in the very next over giving a simple catch to Collinwood.

Needing 79 off 34 balls, Virat Kohli (13), Vinay Kumar (3), Rahul Dravid (14) and Abhimanyu Mithun (5) tried their bit but it was not enough.

Earlier, Collingwood’s innings helped the home team gather a healthy total in 20 overs as the Englishman completed his second IPL 3 half-century.

Sehwag gave Delhi a blistering start as only fours and sixes flew from his bat. The India opener took the bowlers to the cleaners and blasted five fours and two sixes during his 22-ball cameo.

After a silent first over off Kumble, which yielded just two runs, Sehwag slammed two fours in the second over off Vinay Kumar. The swashbuckling batsman then biffed Kumble for two fours and a six in his second over.

New bowler Mithun was pumped into the attack and straight away he was introduced with a six by Sehwag but the lanky pacer had the last laugh as he castled him in the next ball and Delhi lost its first wicket in fifth over.

Gambhir then stepped in the middle but his journey was cut short by a brilliant piece of fielding by debutant KP Appanna as Delhi slipped to 52 for two in 5.4 overs.

Collingwood and Warner then added 31 runs for the third-wicket partnership. Warner was most destructive as he plundered consecutive sixes off Appanna in the ninth over before being removed by Kumble in the next over.

Karthik marked his arrival with a four off Kumble but White took a blinder two balls later in Appanna’s over to dismiss the right-hander as Delhi slumped to 90 for four in 10.3 overs.

However, Collingwood held the other end and clobbered two sixes and a four off White to take Delhi to 111 for four in 12 overs.

New batsman Kedar Jadhav (7) was the next to go two overs later, when he was found short of the crease by wicketkeeper Uthappa.

Collingwood, on the other side, kept clobbering the Bangalore bowlers and sent Kumble out of the park in the 17th over to complete his half-century.

Vettori, playing his first match this year, scored 19 off 17 balls to the end of the innings.

Source: NDTV Cricket

Kevin Pietersen (66 not out) got three lives before notching up his maiden Indian Premier League half-century and helping Royal Challengers Bangalore score a comprehensive six-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab on Friday night.

Pietersen, who was dropped thrice while on 36, 47 and 50, played sheet anchor with two crucial partnerships — 71 off 51 balls for the third wicket with Virat Kohli and 40 from just 15 balls for fourth wicket with Robin Uthappa as RCB romped home with five balls to spare in chase of 182.

Uthappa played a stunning cameo of 22 from just eight balls with two sixes and a four to take the score near finishing line at the PCA Stadium.

Pietersen, who hit seven fours and one six in his 44-ball knock in his second match for RCB, smashed the winning runs, a four off Irfan Pathan, to take his side to 184 for four.

Earlier, Kumar Sangakkara top-scored with a 27-ball 45 as Kings XI Punjab posted a challenging 181 for five after electing to bat.

With the win, their fifth in eight matches, Royal Challengers are on second spot with 10 points and brightened their chances to qualify for the semi-finals.

For Kings XI, who slumped to their seventh loss in eight matches and faced a lot of flake for their performance, their chances for a last four berth virtually ended with their fourth home defeat.

Their bowlers leaked runs and fielders put a woeful performance. S Sreesanth, Ravi Bopara and Sangakkara dropped Pietersen in succession.

Shalabh Srivastava, Bipul Sharma and Irfan Pathan took a wicket apiece for Kings XI. Brett Lee continued his woeful form in the IPL 3 as he bled 48 runs from his four overs without taking any wicket.

Royal Challengers made a steady start in their run-chase with Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey not finding too many boundaries.

Kallis, most run-getter so far in IPL 3, fell cheaply for just nine in the fifth over, edging Shalabh Srivastava’s first delivery to Manvinder Bisla.

Run rate dropped down again after a freak dismissal of Pandey (25-ball 29) in the seventh over. Bipul Sharma got a deflection in his follow through and the ball hit the stumps after Kevin Pietersen had hit it down the pitch and Bisla was short of his crease after backing up.

Bisla earlier got a life in the third over when on 15 after Yuvraj Singh made a diving attempt of the bowling of Brett Lee but could not hold on to the ball.

Needing 60 from the last five overs and with eight wickets in hand, Royal Challengers stepped up the tempo but lost set batsman Virat Kohli off the first ball after the 15th over for a 26-ball 52.

Kohli hit four boundaries and a six before Irfan Pathan took an easy catch at deep midwicket.

Next ball, Kings XI could have tightened the screw on Royal Challengers but Ravi Bopara dropped Pietersen at long-on.

But the 17th over off Lee swung the match towards Royal Challengers with 25 runs coming from it with Robin Uthappa hitting the hapless fast bowler for two sixes and a four.

Earlier, Sangakkara shared 63 runs from 44 balls for the second wicket with opener Manvinder Bisla (28) after Shaun Marsh (2) was out cheaply in the second over, to provide the platform for the challenging total of 181 for five.

Bopara (42 not out), who has been Kings XI’s most prolific run-getter in IPL 3, and Yuvraj Singh, who made a 20-ball 36 which contained three fours and two sixes, chipped in as the home side added 62 runs in the last five overs.

For Royal Challengers Bangalore, Vinay Kumar, Dale Steyn, Anil Kumble and Jacques Kallis took a wicket each.

Kings XI, who have won just once in seven matches, though began on a disastrous note with their previous match half centurion Marsh out in the second over for two and the scoreboard reading three runs, Vinay Kumar being the successful bowler.

Bisla and Sangakkara were unperturbed by the early loss and hit some boundaries off Dale Steyn and Vinay Kumar before the former fell in ninth over for a 26-ball 28 which contained four fours.

Bisla fell while attempting a risky scoop shot off Kumble and the straighter delivery uprooted the stumps left exposed but after sharing a 44-ball 63 with Sangakkara.

Kings XI reached 74 for two after the halfway mark but suffered a jolt as Sangakkara was out in the 12th over as the Sri Lankan holed out to Kallis at deep square leg off the bowling off Steyn. Sangakkara had eight fours in his 27-ball cameo of 45.

Yuvraj, who has been under severe criticism after scoring just 101 runs from his earlier seven games, and Bopara shared a 65-run stand for fourth wicket in just 39 balls to take the home side score to near 150.

The left-handed Yuvraj looked ominous with some exquisite shots, including a six each off Kumble and Kallis but failed to post a big score yet again as he fell in the 18th over.

His big heave off a full toss from Kallis failed to clear Cameron White near the boundary. Yuvraj’s 36 contained three fours and two sixes.

Irfan Pathan then added 16 runs from just five balls to take the score past 180.

Source: Times of India

David Warner exploded at the top and Kedar Jadhav provided a fiery finish to charge Delhi to a strong 183 which they defended with relative ease. It was Delhi’s first win after three losses and also marked Bangalore’s first loss at home.

The pitch was definitely drier than the previous tracks at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and you felt that Bangalore had to do much of the damage against the new ball if they were to hunt down the strong total. However, Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey were kept relatively quiet by tight spells from Dirk Nannes and Umesh Yadav. Nannes hit the deck hard and moved the ball enough to upset batsmen’s timing and Yadav, the fastest Indian bowler currently going around in the circuit, with speeds consistently ticking over 140 kmph, surprised the batsmen with his line, length and bounce. And it wasn’t all brawn from the youngster; there was some brain too: He kept it relatively full to Kallis but hurled a few short-stuff at Pandey to keep him on a leash.

Bangalore’s second opportunity to break free came in the eight over with the introduction of Andrew McDonald and Amit Mishra. It was the make or break moment, with Bangalore needing 129 from 13 overs but Mishra slipped in fine spell to turn the game decisively in Delhi’s favour.

He removed Kallis with a googly and induced Robin Uthappa to edge the reverse sweep to inflict a double strike, a blow from which Bangalore couldn’t’ recover. McDonald went for 18 runs in his first seven deliveries – Uthappa producing the shot of the day with a nonchalantly-hit six over the straight boundary – but bounced back in his second over by taking out Pandey and when Rahul Dravid ran himself out in the same over, the chase had derailed.

There was just one further moment of thrilling drama in the contest and it was provided by AB de Villiers, who jumped back at long-on to take an amazing one-handed catch, even as the ball appeared to have passed him, to get rid of Praveen Kumar.

The bowlers did produce a disciplined performance but it was the batsmen who set up the game. There were three phases of play in Delhi’s innings – an explosive start by Warner, a serene partnership in the middle-overs between AB de Villiers and Dinesh Karthik, and a fiery finish provided by Jadhav.

It was Jadhav who gave Delhi the perfect finish, but for the majority of the innings they rode on the momentum provided by Warner. It was as though he was playing stick cricket – See the ball and give it a mighty thump. The shot that stood out was a crunchy pulled-six off Dale Steyn but what caught his impish mindset was actually a mishit against the same bowler. It was just about back of length outside off and Warner went for an ambitious pull, but the ball screamed towards the cover boundary. It was Twenty20 cricket at its best (or worst, depending on your point of view) and both the bowler and the batsman smiled. There were no smiles from any bowler for the rest of the time when Warner flat-batted length deliveries over in-field and launched mighty sixes over long-on, but the entertainment ended when he fell, unable to clear long-off with yet another of his lofted hits.

When he departed in the fourth over, the score read 44 for 1 and it soon turned to 58 for 2 with Sehwag falling to Vinay Kumar, who is gaining a reputation for taking big wickets. The game changed in character from there on. de Villiers and Dinesh Karthik preferred to deal in singles as they nudged and drove their way around. The period wasn’t without its shares of thrills, with de Villiers pulling and Karthik sweeping Kumble for boundaries but it was definitely a lot quieter than at the start.

It threatened to get grimmer for Delhi when Karthik and de Villiers got run out – Karthik backed up too far at the non-striker’s end and de Villiers was caught short by a direct hit from Eoin Morgan at backward point – but Jadav, an unknown commodity for many of the Bangalore bowlers, connected with a few big hits to push Delhi towards a strong total. The shot of his stay was a audacious flat-batted six over long-on to a short delivery from Jacques Kallis, and he moved around the crease and also threw in a few deft shots – a late cut against Kumble being the highlight. The bowlers, caught off-guard, didn’t know whether to bounce at him or bowl full, and Jadhav exploited that to the fullest to push Delhi to a very competitive total.

Sriram Veera is a staff writer at Cricinfo