Royal Challengers going strong for the semis slot…

Bangalore beat Chennai in a thrilling encounter by 2 wickets played at Kings Mead; Durban. This is the 3rd defeat to Chennai at this ground. Toss was won by Super Kings who chose to bat first.

Vijay and Hayden started the innings for Chennai; Kallis made an early break removing Vijay for just 5. On the other side Orange cap holder Hayden demolished the Bangalore bowlers.

 Interestingly, Kumble started the spell sharing with Vinay. The veteran spinner was outstanding with his leg spin variations and troubled the Chennai batsmen. Raina had the chance to score but didn’t succeed. At the strategic time out the score was 72 for the loss of 2 wickets. Chennai were in a comfortable position and were all set for huge total. Dhoni looked to score quick runs and was caught and bowled by Van Der Merve who took a brilliant catch. This could be one of the best catches in the season. Soon Hayden departed to another outstanding catch taken by Vinay Kumar in the deep of Kumble. Badrinath and Oram did not last long either. Suddenly from 93/2 became 118/7, this is due to the superb out fielding and some fantastic bowling from Challengers. The tail enders tried some slog but perished. Chennai was all-out for 129 in 19.4 overs. Kallis, Kumble and Vinay shared 2 wickets each while Van Der Merve and Praveen chipped in with a wicket a piece.

Not a huge total to chase for the Challengers but got struck in the very first over. Kallis was given leg before to Morkel. Dravid joined Uttappa to secure a partnership but failed. He perished giving a simple catch to Badrinath at point in the bowling of Tyagi. Uttappa soon joined the dressingroom falling to Morkel. The score was 30/3 and Challengers looked in deep trouble.

Kohli and Taylor played sensibly without loosing any wickets. Score looked 57/3 at the half way mark. Both batsmen tried to knock for singles and went on against loose deliveries. Kohli in special was more aggressive, gave away his wicket at the crucial stage. Boucher joined Taylor but was removed by Murali. Chennai had the edge only by taking wickets and got them regularly. Meanwhile Ross Taylor tried few big shots and made Challengers feel better. Van Der Merve was run out unfortunately, Akhil did not trouble the scorer’s much. Last 2 overs needed 18 runs, Praveen made the strike along with Taylor. Balaji delivered a shorter one and was sent to the stands by Praveen, this completely turned the match in favor of the Challengers. The last over had the drama when Taylor got out of the first ball of Oram; they needed 5 runs of 5 balls and got them easily. It was the perfect win for the Challengers in a thriller.

Man of the Match was Ross Taylor.

This made the table hotter. Now that Challengers won, it is tough for the other teams to grab the semis slot. It will be a tough fight for Deccan, Mumbai, Rajasthan, Punjab and Bangalore for the 3 and 4 positions.