Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were in a strong position in the 69th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore in India.
The visitors scored 128 runs in their allotted 20 overs whereas Bangalore reached 80 runs for the loss of just two wickets in their first 10 overs.
Daniel Vettori, who is the captain of RCB, won the toss and elected to field first. He was out of action for a couple of games due to a knee injury, which he sustained during a pool match of the ICC World Cup 2011 against Pakistan. However, the Kiwi player claimed he was fit to play the remaining half of the cash rich tournament.
The pitch in Bangalore has been normally good for batting, but there was some grass on it today. There was also some moisture beneath the surface of the wicket as well, which made life difficult for the Chennai batsmen in the first half an hour.
Only two batsmen in the Chennai innings managed to reach double figures and the rest were below par. The team’s skipper, MS Dhoni, top scored the innings with an unbeaten 70 runs off just 40 balls. He smashed three fours and six thunderous sixes, guiding his team’s total to 128.
Zaheer Khan and Vettori were the pick of the bowlers for Bangalore, taking two wickets apiece and didn’t give away too many runs in their respective spells.
In reply, the home team didn’t get an ideal start either. They experimented by sending star player, AB de Villiers, at the top of the order, but the move failed badly. The South African batsman lasted only three deliveries and was sent back to the pavilion for a duck.
De Villiers tried to attack the bowler, Ravichandran Ashwin, but the ball turned away from him and wicketkeeper, Dhoni, took the bails off in a flash. The replays suggested that the Proteas batsman was shortof his crease and had to take the long walk back to the pavilion.
However, first-drop Virat Kohli joined the explosive opener, Chris Gayle, and the pair put together 80 runs for the second wicket. Kohli got out after adding 31 runs to the total whereas Gayle was unbeaten on 44 at the end of 10 overs.
Ashwin and Albie Morkel shared one wicket each, but they didn’t get much support from the other bowlers.
0 comments:
Post a Comment