April 4, 2013 19:59:22 IST
Last Updated : April 5, 2013
01:38:31 IST
Bangalore : Seamer Vinay
Kumar took two wickets off as
many deliveries in the 20th
over as Royal Challengers
Bangalore snatched a thrilling
two-run win over Mumbai
Indians in their opening Indian
Premier League T20 fixture here
Thursday.
Bowling the 20th over with
Mumbai Indians needing 10
runs, Vinay Kumar dismissed
Dinesh Karthik (60, 37b, 3×4,
4×6) and Ambatti Rayudu (18)
off the second and third balls,
but more crucially gave away
only six runs off the next three
to fashion RCB’s maiden win at
home against the visitors.
Earlier, it was yet again opener
“Man of the Match” Chris Gayle
(92 not out, 58b, 11×4, 5×6)
who held the RCB innings
together and helped the home
team put up 156 for five, a
total that nearly proved
insufficient as Mumbai Indians
came within a stroke of winning
before finishing on 154 for five.
The match provided
considerable drama as 19-year
old seamer and debutant
Jasprit Bumrah picked up three
wickets after being hit for three
boundaries in his first over,
while Gayle played a lone hand
for RCB despite suffering an
injury early in his innings while
Vinay Kumar gave a final twist
to the game.
Dinesh Karthik’s cameo all but
overshadowed Gayle’s typically
explosive innings, as he took
Mumbai close to the winning
post by smashing 24 off Daniel
Christian’s over, the 17th of the
innings, but eventually, it was
Vinay Kumar’s inspired spell
that carried RCB home.
RCB skipper Virat Kohli was all
praise for Gayle and his
bowlers.
“We lost a few wickets early
when the ball was doing a bit,
but managed to put up a
decent total. We also bowled
and fielded well.
“As for Gayle, yes, he is our
impact player and hats off to
him. We hope he carries on the
same way for the rest of the
tournament,” Kohli said.
A disappointed Mumbai Indians
captain Ricky Ponting said:
“We did well and should have
got through, but we fell a bit
behind at the half-way mark.
Our bowling was a bit behind
too and these are the areas we
need to work on.”
Mumbai began the chase
steadily with modern-day icons
Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar
putting together a 52-run
partnership with risk-free
batting.
Ponting was the aggressive of
the two, even stepping out to
seamers while Tendulkar looked
to be in better touch that was
reflected in a few classic
boundary hits.
Even as the pair looked set to
step up the scoring rate,
Tendulkar was run out after
being sent back by Ponting
who himself was stumped soon
after as left-arm spinner Murali
Karthik ruled him out of the
crease.
Not long after, Rohit Sharma
(11) lost his off-stump to Vinay
Kumar, attempting a wild slog
and Mumbai though losing just
three wickets, could not
accelerate, until Karthik, in the
company of Rayudu stepped on
the pedal with some thrilling
hits.
Earlier, the RCB innings was a
curious mixture of the sublime
and the mediocre with first
Kohli and then Gayle providing
all the fireworks to take the
hosts to a decent total.
Aussie quick Mitchell Johnson,
enjoying some movement,
removed opener Tillkaratne
Dilshan (0) in the third over
before Kohli fed on some poor
bowling by Bumrah who was
hit for three boundaries off his
first four deliveries.
A brief stoppage to sprinkle
sawdust in the bowler’s foot
landing area seemed to have
helped Bumrah to regain his
bearings and off the very first
delivery on resumption, trapped
Kohli plumb in front and in the
very next over, had Mayank
Agarwal (1) caught at mid-off
by Tendulkar.
At the other end, Harbhajan
foxed Daniel Christian (4) into
holing out to Johnson at deep
mid-wicket to reduce RCB to 80
for five in the 13th over.
Meanwhile, Gayle hurt his knee
after tangling with Harbhajan
who dived for a return catch
and caused the huge West
Indian to fall heavily. Virtually
on one leg, Gayle nevertheless
did what he is good at –
hitting fours and sixes.
Runs flowed from Gayle while
the crafty Karthik (19 not out)
lent able support as the pair
added 76 runs for the
unfinished sixth wicket even as
the Mumbai bowlers wilted
under the Jamaican’s
onslaught that fetched RCB 97
runs in the last 10 overs.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Team :
CH Gayle, TM Dilshan, V Kohli,
Mayank Agarwal, DT Christian,
KBA Karthik, R Vinay Kumar, A
Mithun, M Kartik, J Unadkat, M
Muralitharan
Mumbai Indians Team :
RT Ponting, SR Tendulkar, KD
Karthik, RG Sharma, AT
Rayudu, KA Pollard, Jasprit
Bumrah, MG Johnson,
Harbhajan Singh, JDP Oram,
MM Patel
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