Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Bangalore's losing streak ends


Bangalore Royal Challengers [Images] beat Chennai Super Kings by 14 runs in their Indian Premier League [Images] match in Chennai on Wednesday.
Scorecard Points table Images
The win was only Bangalore's third in the competition in 12 matches and moved them up from the bottom of the table to seventh spot with six points.
Chennai, on the other hand, suffered their fifth defeat in 12 matches and now have to win both their matches to qualify for the last four.
This was a much improved performance from Bangalore.
Chasing a modest 127 to win, Chennai began well with Parthiv Patel (24) and Stephen Fleming [Images] (45) putting on 60 runs in nine overs.
The former New Zealand [Images] captain looked impressive in his 39-ball knock that included three hits to the fence and two huge ones over it.
Parthiv fell in the first ball of the 10th over, bowled by Kumble and then followed a Chennai collapse.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni [Images] (4), Fleming, S Badrinath (1), Albie Morkel (1) and S Vidyut (0) fell in quick succession as the home team lost five wickets for an addition of 33 runs while eating up seven overs. Chennai never recovered from that collapse and ended up with just 122 for eight in their quota of 20 overs.
Anil Kumble [Images] (three for 14) and Dale Steyn (two for 28) were the most impressive bowlers for the Bangalore team. Vinay Kumar also chipped in with two wickets.
Punjab edge Mumbai by a run Pics
Earlier in the evening, Albie Morkel's four-wicket haul helped Chennai Super Kings restrict Bangalore Royal Challengers to a modest 126 for eight wickets.
After electing to bat, the visitors' pathetic batting again let them down and they banked on captain Rahul Dravid's [Images] 38-ball 47 to go past the 120-run mark.
Morkel, despite injuring himself while taking a spectacular catch, claimed four crucial Royal Challengers' wickets for 32 runs to ensure a smooth chase for the home batsmen.
The Royal Challengers' top order collapsed cheaply to leave the side in a soup at 41 for four in the 10th over.
Jacques Kallis [Images] (5), Shreevats Goswami (10), Virat Kohli (10) and Misbah-ul-Haq (4) departed tamely, but Dravid and Mark Boucher [Images] tried to revive the fortunes of the side by gathering some quick runs.
Boucher looked dangerous as he got 17 off 15 balls, including three fours, but was trapped by Morkel before he could make any further damage.
Dravid, however, stuck to one end and played some improvised shots to garner 47 invaluable runs, studded with five boundaries, for his side.
The Royal Challengers' skipper became Morkel's second victim as he was caught by his opposite number M S Dhoni at cover while trying an inside out shot.
A late order charge by Praveen Kumar (21 off 11) saved the blushes for the Bangalore outfit before Morkel came up with his two-wicket burst in the last over of the innings

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