It was expected to be a mouth watering clash and so did it turn out to be. It was a high voltage clash where Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) aiming redemption in the tournament after being on the wrong end of the table after three games out of four hosted the Pune Warriors who came into the match with three wins out of four.

Chinnaswamy Stadium, known for its high scoring promised one cracker of a match and so it was. The game came down to very last ball and it saw a six of the ultimate ball of the match. Batting first Pune Warriors posted an imposing target of 183 and RCB after initial hiccups in their quest for the win, got their acts together to win a thriller.

Here are some of the hits and flop of the match which played a major role in the outcome of the match:

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Hits

Chris Gayle: He made it clear that he has come with a murderous instinct in the third over where he hit two huge sixes and a four off Ashish Nehra’s over. After this he was somewhat subdued and was not able to break free. But in the 13th over, he launched an onslaught and hit five huge sixes off that over to bring the run rate substantially down. It the first time in the history of the IPL a batsman has hit five consecutive sixes in an over. That over yielded 31 runs and marked the downfall of the Pune Warriors who were going strong till then. Even though Gayle who scored 81 runs of just 48 deliveries including four fours and eight huge sixes, could not play till then, his blitz made sure than Bangalore emerges as an eventual winner.

AB de Villiers: The decision to send him to bat at number somewhat seemed an unusual decision, but later proved out to be a master stroke. With more than 50 runs required in just four runs, AB took the attack on and his innovation on the pitch found the Pune Warriors skipper wanting. He scored a 14 ball 33 comprising off two fours and three sixes.

Saurabh Tiwary: The million dollar man, Tiwary was yesterday promoted ahead of de Villiers and he did the job well. He hung on till the end and it was his six off the last ball where Bangalore required three runs won them the match. He scored 36 off 23 balls including two fours and a six.

Flops:

Tillakaratne Dilshan: He was playing his first match of the tournament and the reason he was selected ahead of his countrymen Muttiah Muralidharan was because RCB wanted to strengthen their batting lineup. Dilshan opening the innings tried to break free but some disciplined bowling curtailed him. He made a complete mess of himself when he tried his trademark ‘Dilscoop’ and edged it to the keeper. He scored four runs of eight balls.

Pune Warriors:

Hits

Robin Uthappa: The fact that Pune was able to post an imposing target of 183 was very much due to this man. Robbie who plays most of the cricket on this ground exploited the conditions well and scored at a breezy rate of 153.33. He scored 69 of 45 balls including nine fours and two sixes.

Jesse Ryder: The southpaw from New Zealand has started to show his hitting prowess already in the tournament in his third game for the Pune Warriors. After playing a match winning knock in the last match he scored 34 of 22 deliveries comprising of four fours and one six.

Flops:

Ashish Nehra: Being their premier bowler, Sourav Ganguly had vested a lot of trust on him and gave him the last over. But Nehra, the senior pro could not stand up to the expectations and bowled a terrible last over where he went for 24 runs where it was only 21 required including a six off the last ball.
Rahul Sharma: The bowler responsible for the downfall of Pune Warriors. After bowling well throughout the tournament, he went for 31 of his second over. And no prize for guessing it was Chris Gayle who belted him. He now has a dubious distinction of becoming the first bowler to be hit for five consecutive sixes in an over in IPL.

By Samikshan Dutta Choudhary

Indian Sports News