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Thrilling win for RCB

Boucher holds his nerve to see his team through

— PHOTO: AFP

SENSIBLE KNOCK: Shreevats Goswami played a crucial role in Royal Challengers Bangalore’s victory in the IPL match on Wednesday.

Durban: Royal Challengers Bangalore overcame some anxious moments before snatching a thrilling five-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in an Indian Premier League match here on Wednesday.

After restricting the Kolkata side to 139 for six which largely revolved around Chris Gayle’s 40 and MN van Wyk’s unbeaten 44, the Bangalore team overhauled the target with one ball to spare to record its second win in the tournament.

This narrow win has given Royal Challengers Bangalore a hope of riving its fortunes in the high profile event.

The Bangalore openers Shreevats Goswami and South African all-rounder Jaques Kallis laid a strong foundation with a 69-run partnership off 67 balls.

Punishing mood

Goswami was in a punishing mode as the left-hander hit Ajit Agarkar for two fours in fourth over before hitting two boundaries off left-arm spinner Murali Karthik in the next over.

Goswami, whose 46-ball 43 had six boundaries, found good support from Kallis (23) and they rotated strikes to frustrate Kolkata skipper Brendon McCullum. Brad Hodge broke the opening partnership by sending back Goswami in 12th over, wicketkeeper MN van Wyk snapping up the snick.

The proceedings took an interesting turn when Bangalore lost three wickets within 38 runs. Kallis fell to paceman Ishant Sharma, and Hodge had skipper Kevin Pietersen holing out to Saha (13) and Virat Kohli (19) edging one to the wicketkeeper. With 10 runs required from the last over off Chris Gayle, Mark Boucher held his nerve to hit a boundary and then rotate strike with Manish Pandey (2 n.o.) before wrapping up the game sending the ball to the fence.

Earlier, Bangalore skipper Pietersen decided to share the new ball with spinner Roelof van der Merwe and his gamble paid off as McCullum departed with a golden duck in the very first delivery of the match.

McCullum’s ambitious cut off Pietersen found Virat Kohli poucing a well-judged catch at backward point. Hodge joined opener Chris Gayle out in the middle and tried to repair the damage before Anil Kumble struck in the sixth over.

Kumble had Hodge (17 off 15) plumb in front as the batsman failed to read the drifting delivery.

Ganguly (1) disappointed when the left-hander went after Praveen Kumar and his lofted shot landed in safe hand of Jaques Kallis. However, South African Wyk and Wridhiman Saha stitched up a crucial 40-run partnership when the Kolkata side was struggling at 70 for four following the departure of Gayle.

The West Indian smote the ball into fence on six occasions before, Goswami ran behind to pouch a spectacular catch near the fence in the 12th over off KP Appanna.

Kumble had Saha (21, 14 balls 1x6) caught by Pietersen in the 17th over.

With Bangalore picking up regular wickets Kolkata failed to post a fighting target. — PTI

SCOREBOARD

Kolkata Knight Riders: B. McCullum c Kohli b Pietersen 0, C. Gayle c Goswami b Appana 40, B. Hodge lbw b Kumble 17, S. Ganguly c Kallis b Praveen 1, M. van Wyk (not out) 43, W. Saha c Pietersen b Kumble 21, L.R. Shukla lbw b van der Merwe 2, A. Agarkar (not out) 6, Extras: (lb-2, w-7) 9, Total: (for six wickets) 139.

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-45, 3-54, 4-70, 5-110, 6-188.

RCB bowling: Pietersen 4-0-24-1, van der Merwe 4-0-28-1, Pankaj 1-0-14-0, Praveen 4-0-25-1, Kumble 4-0-16-2, Appanna 3-0-30-1.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: J. Kallis c van Wyk b Sharma 23, S. Goswami c van Wyk b Hodge 43, K. Pietersen c Saha b Hodge 13, V. Kohli c van Wyk b Hodge 19, M. Boucher (not out) 25, R. van der Merwe c van Wyk b Sharma 9, M. Pandey (not out) 2, Extras: (b-1, lb-1, w-7) 9, Total: (for five wickets in 19.5 overs) 143.

Fall of wickets: 1-69, 2-77, 3-106, 4-107, 5-129.

KKR bowling: Ishant 4-0-15-2, Agarkar 2-0-23-0, Kartik 4-0-26-0, Gayle 3.5-0-31-0, Hodge 4-0-29-3, Ganguly 2-0-17-0.

Corrections and Clarifications

A cricket report "Thrilling win for RCB" ("Sport", April 30, 2009) incorrectly said that MN van Wyk scored an unbeaten 44. It was 43, as given in the scoreboard. (The report was on a match between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Kolkata Knight Riders.)

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