David Miller and David Hussey of Kings XI Punjab celebrate the dismissal of Kolkata Knight riders batsman Eoin Morgan during their IPL match in Mohali yesterday.
Bangalore:Royal Challengers Bangalore pipped Delhi Daredevils in the Super Over after a tie to record their fourth win in six outings while the visitors slid to their fifth straight defeat in the IPL yesterday.
Asked to bat first, Daredevils made 152 for five while RCB, cruising at 129 for two at one stage, all but committed hara-kiri as they lost five wickets in a matter of 17 deliveries leaving them to get 12 off the 20th over bowled by Irfan Pathan.
After West Indian all-rounder Ravi Rampaul hit a six off the first ball and a couple of singles later, RCB required two off the last.Rampaul and Vinay Kumar scrambled for a bye even as wicket keeper Kedar Jadhav fumbled with the collection as the match ended in a tie leading to the Super Over. AB de Villiers struck two sixes off Umesh Yadav as RCB made 15. In reply, Daredevils lost David Warner to the first ball bowled by Rampaul.
However, Irfan Pathan slammed a six and a boundary off the second and fourth balls, followed by a single off the next. RCB clinched the game when Rampaul clean bowled Ben Rohrer off the final delivery.Earlier, skipper Virat Kohli slammed his third half-century (65, 50b, 7x4, 1x6) in six matches, but RCB made a hash of the chase before coming through in the Super Over.
It was RCB’s second Super Over game, having lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad earlier this month following a tie.Kohli was at his dazzling best after RCB lost both their openers Chris Gayle (13) and streaky Lokesh Rahul (12) for 26 runs and in the company of AB de Villiers (39, 32b, 3x4, 1x6) put on 103 for the third wicket to script a victory.
In Mohali, Manpreet Gony’s 18-ball 42 which made the difference for Kings XI Punjab who beat defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders by four runs in an Indian Premier League thriller at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here yesterday.
Chasing Punjab’s 157/9, Kolkata could only manage 153/9 in their quota of 20 overs. With 11 runs required off the last over bowled by Praveen Kumar, KKR only managed six giving the hosts their second win in four matches.
After a bad start by the visitors losing two wickets -- opener Manvinder Bisla (0) and Jacques Kallis (1) - in the first eight balls of their innings, KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir (60) and English recruit Eoin Morgan (47) struck a fantastic third wicket partnership of 105 runs in 11.5 overs. The Gambhir-Morgan partnership put KKR’s ship back on course for the 158-run target but Gony also struck with the ball taking Gambhir’s wicket which led to the slide of KKR’s innings.
Facing some tight bowling, KKR managed only 11 runs in three overs after losing their skipper. KKR tried to steady their ship with Yusuf Pathan (13) and Rajat Bhatia (16), who hit two sixes in the penultimate over, bringing down the asking rate from 30 runs in two overs to 11 in one.
However, regular loss of wickets gave away the victory to the hosts. IANS
