Welcome back! Kohli and Gayle are out in the middle. Fasten your seatbelts folks. The chase is gonna be exciting. Praveen Kumar to get us under way, one slip in place
We earlier asked how much winning this toss measured on a scale of 1 to Virat Kohli's batting form. As promised, here are the responses that were creative whilst being loyal to the #TossUp hashtag..
@JumpSum: The toss has made sure we'll see more "Outs" than "OutoftheGrounds". Kookaburra's Saved!
@samose_wala: On a scale of Siddhu to Richie Benaud, Virat's toss win was a Harsha Bhogle
@Sunilktcs: Guys at Oxford seriously considering to add a new synonym to chase as 'kohling'
@AliAzhar92: Toss is really imp as it gives an opportunity for @imVkohli to decide on to score a 100 in 1st or 2nd innings
@MrSwag619: Today's toss was as important as Danny Morrison's presence in comm box
Watson: "Virat gave me the crucial overs and it's been a nice season for BLR. It was an incredible start for us. Smith batted incredibly well to give them a chance on that wicket. I am very confident that things will go well. It (the pitch) is a bit dry and the ball is gripping." Chahal: "I am happy with the way we bowled and the way we came back. I like Popeye, I have big muscles (smiles, when Hayden told him he had given him a nickname, "Popeye without spinach")."
Gujarat found themselves in all sorts of problems before they had time to settle in the dugout. At 9/3 and their most potent weapons back in the hutch already, Gujarat's state was messier than a construction site. Virat's gamble of tossing the ball to Abdulla very early on had worked like a dream and things looked grim. Smith and Karthik started the arduous and mostly hated rebuilding job by collecting singles here and there. But they couldn't have gone on much longer in the same mould given the reputation of this venue. And so it happened. Smith turned it on and those trademark bottom handed jabs started flowing. Before long, his fifty came up and Chahal came in for some special punishment. But the leggie did find retribution in his final over and removed Smith with around 4 overs still left. It all comes down to this, though - is 159 enough? There is turn, and the pitch also looks two-paced. We shall see.
19.6 -
Jordan to D Kulkarni, out D Kulkarni Run Out!! 1 run completed. At this very ground, we saw how 1 run made all the difference when India played Bangladesh not too long ago in the T20 WC and this is unacceptable from Kulkarni. Why won't you charge back for the second run even it's not fully on. Surely, could have put pressure on the fielder and you never know, there might have been a fumble by the fielder himself or the keeper or the throw being wide to effect a run-out. Kulkarni hits this low full toss wide of deep mid-wicket, Jakati always wanted two and rightly so. Kulkarni for some reason hesitated for a while and that gave Baby all the time to take aim and fire an accurate throw to the keeper, who did the rest. D Kulkarni run out (Sachin Baby/Rahul) 10(4) [4s-2]
Jordan to D Kulkarni, THAT'S OUT!! Run Out!!
19.5 -
Jordan to Jakati, 1 run, pacy fuller length ball, driven down to long on
19.4 -
Jordan to Jakati, no run, short delivery on the stumps, Jakati ducks under it
Shadab Jakati, left handed bat, comes to the crease
19.3 -
Jordan to P Kumar, out Bowled!! The idea was right from Kumar, to go for the big hit that is, but you got to move your feet by at least an inch sir to get into a good position to meet the ball. Full and in the slot as Jordan misses the yorker, lack of feet from Jordan meant he doesn't make contact. The ball crashes into the off stump. P Kumar b Jordan 1(2)
Jordan to P Kumar, THAT'S OUT!! Bowled!!
19.2 -
Jordan to D Kulkarni, 1 run, drilled very hard, all along the ground but straight to sweeper cover
19.1 -
Jordan to P Kumar, 1 run, short delivery outside off stump, Kumar backs and cuts over the infield to sweeper cover
18.6 -
Watson to D Kulkarni, FOUR, that's a lovely hit. Full and outside off stump, Kulkarni lofts the drive over extra cover for four crucial runs
18.5 -
Watson to D Kulkarni, FOUR, Kulkarni slogs, mistimes it completely, goes over mid-wicket, Kohli runs to his right and puts in a desperate dive but spills it. Goes for four. Expectedly, Kohli is livid with himself. Every run counts and he'd hope that this mistake doesn't prove costly
18.5 -
Watson to D Kulkarni, wide, short delivery down the leg-side from Watson, easy call for the umpire. Not the ideal delivery attempting a hat-trick
Dhawal Kulkarni, right handed bat, comes to the crease
18.4 -
Watson to Dwayne Bravo, out Bowled!! Number four for Watto! What did he bowl? A length from round the wicket! How did he get a wicket with a length ball at the death! I don't know. This was in the slot to be put away, Bravo swung hard and lost his shape in the process, the ball crashed into middle and leg. Now Dharmasena wants to send this upstairs as well. This time it is to check if Watson has cut the side crease with his back leg. Oh that's very close, just on the line is the toe and he gets away with it as he doesn't cross the line. So Watson is on a hat-trick. Dwayne Bravo b Watson 8(6) [4s-1]
Watson to Dwayne Bravo, THAT'S OUT!! Bowled!!
Praveen Kumar, right handed bat, comes to the crease
18.3 -
Watson to Dwivedi, out Caught by Kohli!! What! How many stitches did he have? 9-10? Chuck all that! This is serious commitment from Virat Kohli. What a blinder of a catch. Oh hang on! Drama out there! Kohli is not happy with the umpire for sending this upstairs. They are checking if it's a clean catch. Kohli has his hands aloft gesturing to the umpire as to what is the problem with the catch. Umpire Kumar Dharmasena though wants to be sure. He asks Dwivedi to wait and the soft signal is NOT-OUT. So there has to be enough evidence for this to be overturned. "No problem with that," says third umpire Oxenford on air and OUT it is. Dwivedi steps out and tries to hit one out of the ground, doesn't time it well, Kohli had a bit of ground to cover running forward from long-on, he dived full length and took it inches from the ground. Kohli threw the ball hard onto the ground immediately. Probably he was angry that Dwivedi managed a couple of sixes or he felt the pain of those stitches. Dwivedi c Kohli b Watson 19(9) [4s-1 6s-2]
Watson to Dwivedi, THAT'S OUT!! Caught!!
18.2 -
Watson to Dwivedi, SIX, Watson overcorrects and bowls a really bad ball. Tried the slower ball bouncer but Dwivedi picked that early, waited and pulled it hard over deep mid-wicket
18.1 -
Watson to Dwivedi, SIX, wow! How good is that hit from Dwivedi! Length delivery outside off stump, Dwivedi steps out and converts it into a full ball, lofts the drive over cover and this is a small ground
Shane Watson [3.0-0-8-2] is back into the attack
17.6 -
Jordan to Dwivedi, 1 run, another loud shout for LBW, and again umpire Chaudhary says not out. Pacy yorker on the off stump, Dwivedi moves across and tries to dig it out, the umpire reckons there was an inside edge onto boot
17.5 -
Jordan to Dwivedi, leg byes, FOUR, big appeal for LBW, oh that's close. Umpire Anil Chaudhary though moved away from his position. He thought it was snaking down the leg-side. Excellent yorker, Dwivedi missed it completely trying to dig it out, the ball rolls off the boot past the keeper and there's no one at third man
17.4 -
Jordan to Dwayne Bravo, 1 run, Bravo tries to repeat the shot, this time it's a very full ball, hit along the ground to long-off
17.3 -
Jordan to Dwayne Bravo, FOUR, low full toss and Bravo is very good with his inside-out hits. No one at sweeper cover, Bravo opens the face of the bat and slices the drive through cover-point, not hit that well but it rolls and touches the rope
17.3 -
Jordan to Dwayne Bravo, wide, bowls a wide down the leg-side, has to rebowl that
17.2 -
Jordan to Dwivedi, 1 run, this is driven along the ground to extra-cover
17.1 -
Jordan to Dwivedi, no run, very full and outside off stump, Dwivedi drills it towards mid-off
Chris Jordan [2.0-0-14-1] is back into the attack
16.6 -
Chahal to Dwivedi, 1 run, flighted delivery just outside off stump, Dwivedi taps it towards to point
16.5 -
Chahal to Dwivedi, FOUR, cheeky shot first up and it's effective. Dwivedi gets down on one knee and paddles it fine to the fine leg boundary. Chahal goes into the 40s now
16.4 -
Chahal to Dwayne Bravo, 1 run, googly on the leg stump, Bravo works it to mid-wicket
Eklavya Dwivedi, right handed bat, comes to the crease
16.3 -
Chahal to Dwayne Smith, out Caught by Kohli!! Oh my word! That's a shocking shot and Smith knows that he's played a bad shot. Oh look at Kohli! He blows a kiss to somone! Was it to Chahal or Smith? Maybe that's one for my colleague to ask at the PC - if he comes that is! This was short and spinning away wide outside off stump, that could have been easily slapped or cut through the off-side, Smith tries to fetch the pull, toe-ends it and long-on moves forward slightly to complete a simple catch. Even the cameraman lost the ball for a while and that tells you even he didn't expect Smith to try to hit that on the on-side. Dwayne Smith c Kohli b Chahal 73(41) [4s-5 6s-6]
Chahal to Dwayne Smith, THAT'S OUT!! Caught!!
16.2 -
Chahal to Dwayne Smith, SIX, tossed up ball from Chahal and he continues to disappear. Smith gets under it and muscles it hard over the deep mid-wicket fence
16.1 -
Chahal to Dwayne Bravo, 1 run, very full and on the stumps, Bravo flicks it to backward square leg
Yuzvendra Chahal [3.0-0-29-0] is back into the attack
15.6 -
Watson to Dwayne Bravo, 1 run, that's the slower ball bumper, Bravo tries to pull, gets a top edge that hits the glove and rolls to backward square leg. No harm done though
Dwayne Bravo, right handed bat, comes to the crease
15.5 -
Watson to Jadeja, out Caught by Gayle!! Now that's the best Jadeja could do with the way he was dealing with Shane 'Watto' Watson. Now how well has Watson bowled for BLR! In this modern era where people talk about the back-of-the-hand slower ball, the subtle variation of the wrists, blah, blah, blah, this burly all-rounder keeps it simple even in the death overs and gets wickets. He mixes the over with simple slower ones and then bowls the yorker, this is wide outside off stump and Jadeja only manages to squeeze it straight to backward point. Jadeja c Gayle b Watson 3(7)
Watson to Jadeja, THAT'S OUT!! Caught!!
15.4 -
Watson to Dwayne Smith, 1 run, well executed widish yorker outside off stump, Smith tries to dig it out, did he pick it late? Certainly the bat came down a bit slow. The under edge rolls to short fine leg
15.3 -
Watson to Jadeja, 1 run, that's another slower ball very close to the off stump, Jadeja manages to bend his knees and guide it to third man, he's keen for two but Dwayne Smith says no. Rightly so, three balls and just 1 run scored. Surely, Smith had to be on strike
15.3 -
Watson to Jadeja, wide, Watto goes for the conventional widish yorker, but loses control and bowls way outside off stump
15.2 -
Watson to Jadeja, no run, looks like another slower one, Jadeja only manages to cut this straight to backward point. Two precious dots at the start of the over
15.1 -
Watson to Jadeja, no run, Watto begins his fresh spell with a slower ball on the leg stump, Jadeja tucks it into the on-side
Shane Watson [2.0-0-4-1] is back into the attack
10 off that over, it's over 100 now, 5 more to go and 46 more for 150. But seriously, is 150 enough for that sort of a BLR batting line-up?
14.6 -
Aravind to Jadeja, 1 run, shortish and outside off stump, Jadeja tries to cut and gets an under edge that rolls to short third man
14.5 -
Aravind to Dwayne Smith, 1 run, low full toss, clipped away along the ground to deep mid-wicket
14.4 -
Aravind to Dwayne Smith, no run, clever change of pace from Aravind and Smith plays an ugly swipe across the line, misses and it sneaks past the under edge of the bat. I say ugly because he never read the variation from the bowler's hand
14.3 -
Aravind to Dwayne Smith, SIX, sorry sir! Can't bowl full tosses and not to someone who's batting on 59! How crucial has this knock been for GUJ! Smith doesn't try to hit it really hard, swings across the line, connects well, goes flat over backward square leg
14.2 -
Aravind to Jadeja, 1 run, full ball and Jadeja works it towards deep mid-wicket, shouts "two, two, two" but it's not there
14.1 -
Aravind to Dwayne Smith, 1 run, Aravind tries the yorker, almost gets it right, Smith whips it to deep mid-wicket
Sreenath Aravind [2.0-0-3-0] is back into the attack
Time-out time. Kohli and the BLR would be disappointed with Chahal's show. There's a lot of purchase for the spinners, but figures of 3-0-29-0 don't do justice. Let's not be too harsh on him though, for he's bowled very well in the latter half of the tournament. Probably the pressure of a big game got to him and probably on seeing Abdulla get assistance with the new ball in the second over of the game he put extra pressure on himself. Anyway, 94/4 after 14 overs. 6 overs to go, 60 runs is what GUJ would at least want on the board. Can Jadeja support Smith? and there's Bravo to follow as well.
13.6 -
Jordan to Jadeja, no run, very full and outside off stump, Jadeja drives and picks out cover
Ravindra Jadeja, left handed bat, comes to the crease
13.5 -
Jordan to D Karthik, out Bowled!! Why? Why would you play such fancy shots! Why can't you wait for the bad ball and put it away like Smith's been doing! This attempt doesn't make sense to me at all. Fine leg is back at the rope, not inside the ring, and he attempts the paddle/scoop. Only manages to drag it back onto the leg stump. Good yorker at normal pace, I mean it's not the slower one, Karthik moved to the off-side and tried a lazy little shot, only to have his timber shattered. Jordan roars in delight after breaking this vital 85-run stand. D Karthik b Jordan 26(30) [4s-2]
Jordan to D Karthik, THAT'S OUT!! Bowled!!
13.4 -
Jordan to D Karthik, 2 runs, now where's he hit that? The slowness of the ball didn't help his case though! Karthik went across the line a little to early trying to scoop, had to wait a long time for the ball to arrive, tried to adjust but only managed to toe-end it in the air through the vacant backward square region
13.3 -
Jordan to Dwayne Smith, 1 run, Jordan goes for the yorker, but bowls a low full toss, whipped with powerful wrists, deep mid-wicket runs to his right and tidies up
13.2 -
Jordan to D Karthik, 1 run, dabbed towards backward point and Dwayne Smith will be back on strike
13.1 -
Jordan to Dwayne Smith, 1 run, now how kind is Smith as a person? This is a freebie full toss but Smith is kind enough to gently tap it down to long-on. Should have smoked that out of the ground mate!
Chris Jordan [1.0-0-9-0] is back into the attack
12.6 -
I Abdulla to Dwayne Smith, 1 run, punched off the back foot to long-off along the ground
12.5 -
I Abdulla to Dwayne Smith, SIX, it's too full and Smith, in this form, won't miss out. Easily lofts over long-on and raises his bat to the dug-out to acknowledge the applause for his fifty. What an innings under pressure. He didn't look fluent, but he hung in there, did not attempt rash shots and stitched a crucial stand with Karthik
12.4 -
I Abdulla to Dwayne Smith, FOUR, now this is smashed, not from the middle of the bat, off the inside half of the bat and Smith swung so hard that long-on had no chance running to his right. This was slightly quicker and Smith went for the slog
12.3 -
I Abdulla to D Karthik, 1 run, floated up just outside off stump, Karthik tries to fetch the sweep, toe-ends it uppishly through the vacant mid-wicket region
12.2 -
I Abdulla to D Karthik, no run, fired down the leg-side, a freebie but Karthik has missed out on the sweep, under edge rolls towards short fine leg
12.2 -
I Abdulla to D Karthik, wide, this is surely way outside off stump, ignored and umpire Kumar Dharmasena stretches his arms
12.1 -
I Abdulla to D Karthik, FOUR, another short delivery, this is a slow pitch and allows the batsman ample time to go back and get into position. Karthik moved across the sticks a bit as well and pulled it handsomely wide of long leg
11.6 -
Chahal to Dwayne Smith, SIX, now Smith has no problems in nailing that one. Once again Chahal bowls short and this time Smith goes back early, waits and muscles the pull deep into the mid-wicket stand
11.5 -
Chahal to Dwayne Smith, no run, Smith checks his shot, was dropped short, but the sharp spin away from the right-hander surprised the batsman, almost lobbed back to the bowler
11.4 -
Chahal to D Karthik, 1 run, uppish, long-on is stationed but this is not connected well to carry to him. Karthik steps out and looks to loft, luckily for him he didn't hit it well
11.3 -
Chahal to D Karthik, no run, well bowled. Karthik came down the track, but Chahal dragged his length back and forced the batsman to take the defensive line
11.2 -
Chahal to Dwayne Smith, 1 run, this is softly tapped to cover for a sharp single
11.1 -
Chahal to Dwayne Smith, no run, flighted delivery tight on the stumps, Smith defends off the front foot
10.6 -
I Abdulla to D Karthik, no run, beaten! Good finish to the over from Abdulla after conceding a boundary first ball. Floats this outside off stump, not short enough to go for the drive, but Karthik goes for it and only connects with thin air
10.5 -
I Abdulla to D Karthik, no run, slower through the air and forces Karthik to gently push towards backward point, he was keen for a run, but Dwayne Smith wasn't interested and rightly so. Too close to the fielder and Karthik just made it home before the keeper disturbed the bails after collecting the throw
10.4 -
I Abdulla to D Karthik, no run, widish outside off stump, Karthik thinks it's too wide but it's not
10.3 -
I Abdulla to Dwayne Smith, 1 run, shortish in length, Smith gets down on one knee and sweeps it to deep backward square leg
10.2 -
I Abdulla to D Karthik, 1 run, after the boundary, Karthik goes back and gently punches the flatter delivery along the ground to deep extra-cover
10.1 -
I Abdulla to D Karthik, FOUR, not a good start to his new spell. Poor delivery bowled down the leg-side, Karthik goes for the sweep, gets an under edge that goes fine and beats fine leg. A much needed fifty partnership this for the Lions
Iqbal Abdulla [2.0-0-15-2] is back into the attack
9.6 -
Chahal to Dwayne Smith, FOUR, another one stays too low. Too low even for Rahul. The ball gets under Smith's attempted flash square of the wicket on the off-side, nutmegs a crouching Rahul and runs away
9.5 -
Chahal to D Karthik, 1 run, taps it to cover and runs. A slight miscommunication. A better throw from Baby from short cover and it would have been close at the striker's end
9.4 -
Chahal to Dwayne Smith, 1 run, makes for the turn, reaches out and pats it through extra cover
9.3 -
Chahal to Dwayne Smith, FOUR, nicely made room to this quicker one on the stumps. Took his front leg and launched it downtown. AB gave a chase across from long-off but it spun off the turf and raced away
9.2 -
Chahal to Dwayne Smith, no run, sweeps but it's too full to be done. Pitching outside leg and hence the appeal was given a short shrift too
9.1 -
Chahal to Dwayne Smith, SIX, the greed. Chahal looks for the dream delivery that spins from leg to off. Instead it does not and Smith was behind it in a jiffy. Uses a loft and powered it over long-on
Time-out! This is not a typical Bengaluru pitch. It's slow and low, aiding turn and it looks to be getting worse as the ball gets old. Won't be an easy chase, unless GUJ collapse for a score that's a mental catalyst for BLR. Would you consider 135 as a good score here?
8.6 -
Binny to Dwayne Smith, 1 run, tucked away to backward square leg off the pad
8.5 -
Binny to D Karthik, 1 run, Binny appealed for a run out at the bowler's end but there was no contact. Full ball drilled back this time, Binny kicked his right leg in the air to make contact with the ball, hoping to find Dwayne Smith backing up too far. An appeal nonetheless but the umpire was not interested
8.4 -
Binny to Dwayne Smith, 1 run, geez, Binny has arrested Smith's shimmy with a bumper. Was walking in front, Smith held his steps back, rode the bounce awkwardly with a swivel-pull and it went uppish over square leg
8.3 -
Binny to Dwayne Smith, no run, that's a blindfolded swat. And it stays low to make it all look uglier. Widish line, Smith was fetching it with poked out bat and misses
8.2 -
Binny to Dwayne Smith, no run, made no room and Binny dragged the length back and got it to dart back in from wide. Smith backed away to make some room and pushed it away into the off-side
8.1 -
Binny to D Karthik, 1 run, pitches it full right up but he does not have the new ball this time. Mostly had all this season. Karthik drives on the up and exploits the unmanned region in front of long-off
Stuart Binny, right-arm medium, comes into the attack
Binny time!
7.6 -
Chahal to Dwayne Smith, no run, another leading edge this time. Was looking to play against the turn.. despite seeing the ball rip away on the last two balls. So it does, and Smith's closing blade usheres a dot to extra cover
7.5 -
Chahal to D Karthik, 1 run, looped wider and turns away quick. Karthik was backing away and then had to reach out for a long-batted pat to long-off
7.4 -
Chahal to Dwayne Smith, 1 run, another chance. There's certain spin. Looked to go downtown but the tossed up delivery this time turns away. Smith's attempted loft skewed off the outside half, thanks to the turn, and fell way behind backward point in the vacant acres
7.3 -
Chahal to D Karthik, 1 run, fullish length invites a front foot push to the sweeper in the deep
A slip
7.2 -
Chahal to Dwayne Smith, 1 run, drifts it on to the leg-stump, Smith winds up quick for a push to long-on
7.1 -
Chahal to D Karthik, 1 run, not much loop on this delivery on middle. Karthik made room by taking out his front leg and pushed one through cover
Yuzvendra Chahal, right-arm leg break, comes into the attack
6.6 -
Jordan to D Karthik, 1 run, just waited enough for the ball to arrive and opened the bat face on impact. A fullish ball barreled to backward point with that
6.5 -
Jordan to Dwayne Smith, 1 run, clipped off the pads with a swivel down to fine leg this time
6.4 -
Jordan to Dwayne Smith, SIX, that's savagely brutal. Poor ball I need to say though. Shortish and angled down leg, Smith hurried into his swivel and pulled it over backward square leg. Enough wattage to embarrass the boundaries here
6.3 -
Jordan to Dwayne Smith, no run, did well to straighten his back and punch a defence back
6.2 -
Jordan to Dwayne Smith, no run, went too hard at it. And just not the length to pull. Went with it, the wide ball was difficult to fetch anyway and the low bounce ensured that the inside edge rocketed onto Smith's boot
6.1 -
Jordan to D Karthik, leg byes, 1 run, hops back seeing the ball zoom off the turf but could not. Off the thigh pad to mid-wicket for that extra
6.1 -
Jordan to D Karthik, wide, angles this down leg and the pace off the pitch denies Karthik a glance-it-away connection. Rahul dived to his left and stopped a certain few extras
Chris Jordan, right-arm medium, comes into the attack
5.6 -
Watson to D Karthik, 1 run, gentle yorker punted wide, Karthik protracted his hands for a squeeze down to backward point.. where the fielder dives to stop the ball. Top effort. That caps off the powerplay. 23/3 it reads. A pedestrian powerplay
5.5 -
Watson to D Karthik, no run, lovely. Fullish length outside off, Karthik had to get forward but chose to stay stuck and fetch it with a poke. Couldn't cover the line and the dart off the pitch bound up and zooomed past the edge
Last 2 balls of the PP..
5.4 -
Watson to D Karthik, no run, drops it on a fullish length and Karthik squeezes it out off the front foot into the off-side
5.3 -
Watson to Dwayne Smith, 1 run, let the length ball come right up to his pads and tucked it away to deep mid-wicket
5.2 -
Watson to D Karthik, 1 run, was over-punctual to come on the front foot. Sort of was stuck with his legs in a tangle. This cutter jagged away to take the leading edge as Karthik looked for a clip and the ball rolls away to third man
5.1 -
Watson to D Karthik, no run, punches this on the up but straight to point
4.6 -
I Abdulla to Dwayne Smith, no run, tickled this off the pads with that swivel but a backward square leg in place cuts off the boundary. Even the single
4.5 -
I Abdulla to Dwayne Smith, FOUR, drifted wide and the turn made it further mediocre. Smith waited and reached out with a cut slammed through cover-point. Two boundaries make the score a little pretty now
4.4 -
I Abdulla to Dwayne Smith, FOUR, a short ball and it's been hammered away. Stayed back, swiped his bat and deposited it away round the corner. Not off the middle, but off the toe end.. but you should see that bat
4.3 -
I Abdulla to D Karthik, 1 run, drifts on leg-stump and turns a touch. Karthik was on his front foot and did well to tap it to mid-off. The cover fielder runs across and cuts it off
4.2 -
I Abdulla to Dwayne Smith, 1 run, slants himself more to the off side this time and clips it against the turn to mid-wicket. A single
4.1 -
I Abdulla to Dwayne Smith, no run, keeps it on a length, extracts gentle turn away and Smith's back foot stance helps defend it back
Iqbal Abdulla [1.0-0-5-2] is back into the attack
3.6 -
Watson to Dwayne Smith, 1 run, a sane tuck to backward square leg to keep the strike. Is he running out of partners already?
3.5 -
Watson to Dwayne Smith, no run, scissors this in from off-stump and Smith's left leg planted down leg was pinged. Hence no appeal. High too
Dwayne Smith, right handed bat, comes to the crease
3.4 -
Watson to Raina, out Caught by Aravind!! If I could earn a penny each time Raina perishes to a short ball, I would threaten Uncle Scrooge's legacy. Was waiting on the back foot there expecting the ever so due short ball and he got one. What failed him was his inability to power that swivel. Was late as the ball rose up, managed to splice the pull away, more like a save-me shot and Kohli had a fielder there at backward square leg. Aravind, apparently not tired after his bowling stint, dives forward, stretches as far as he could and pouched it cleanly. Raina c Aravind b Watson 1(9)
Watson to Raina, THAT'S OUT!! Caught!!
3.3 -
Watson to Raina, no run, another dot. Sunil Gavaskar reckons pressure building. Cuts it well but there wasn't much pace for the ball to run away. Placed straight to cover point
3.2 -
Watson to Raina, no run, no slower bumper. Keeps it on a length outside off, Raina stays put and stabs it to a deepish mid-on in place. More dots than Braille for him..
3.1 -
Watson to Raina, no run, reacted too early there. Gave away the cards by backing away, Watson hurls it full and wide and Raina's desperate stretched out drive toe-ends back to Watson
Shane Watson, right-arm fast medium, comes into the attack
Here's Watson with his slower balls. A slow pitch should make them potent
2.6 -
Aravind to D Karthik, no run, can't breach that off-side. Did not intend to either. Just stood there on the front foot and eased a defence to cover. Fullish length and he had read it all early. Not taking any more chances, is he?
2.5 -
Aravind to Raina, 1 run, it is two-paced, this pitch. Length delivery darts in, stays low and Raina does well to stay deep in the crease. Gave him the room to stand taller and nudge it away to mid-on
2.4 -
Aravind to Raina, no run, back of a length delivery around off, Raina got on his 'ld tippy-toes and slotted the tuck straight to mid-wicket
2.3 -
Aravind to Raina, no run, fullish and pushed wider and this nips away. Raina was chained to the crease, reached out all crouched to pat it away but could not
2.2 -
Aravind to Raina, no run, nearly another. This BLR crowd is throating out all they can. Pings it short and gets it to jag in. Raina was high to punch it away but it got too high for him.. past the inside edge and to the keeper
2.1 -
Aravind to D Karthik, 1 run, was shuffling early across and forced this length delivery outside off away with a closed bat to mid-wicket. Did well to react early and cut the angle off
1.6 -
I Abdulla to Raina, no run, this was uppish too. But not a wicket-taking uppish. sticks to the round the wicket angle, keeps it flat and slides it across. The ball stuck a touch and hence an uppish drive. A mid-off would have been interesting
1.5 -
I Abdulla to D Karthik, 1 run, patted to extra cover this time. The hint of flight continues but not much turn on this to threaten. Easily negotiated
Dinesh Karthik, right handed bat, comes to the crease
1.4 -
I Abdulla to Finch, out Caught by Gayle!! Two wickets! Two, yes you read it right. Finch was opened up here like a can of pop soda. Abdulla drifts one on the stumps, Finch is lured into a leg-side single and he obliges. But, but. The ball turns, takes the leading edge and the slip in place comes into the action. Easy catch for him. Finch c Gayle b I Abdulla 4(6) [4s-1]
I Abdulla to Finch, THAT'S OUT!! Caught!!
1.3 -
I Abdulla to Finch, no run, makes a lot of room before Abdulla delivers the ball and uses the readymade room to crash the ball to extra cover
1.2 -
I Abdulla to Finch, FOUR, edged and over a leaping slipper! All happening. Gets the ball to turn a touch but there's bounce. Finch throws his horizontal bat at it and the top-edge evades the lone slipper who dives up but it's too high
Suresh Raina, left handed bat, comes to the crease
1.1 -
I Abdulla to Brendon McCullum, out Caught by de Villiers!! Oh look at them. Look at BLR celebrate. Huddles, roars and what not. The Iqbal Abdulla Experiment yields an early result. The bowler keeps it on a length and puffs it up with some flight which draws McCullum forward with a shimmy. Believe me, he would have shimmied to a flat iron. Fails to get hold of the minimal turn, and ends up slicing the loft to long-off. ABD doesn't drop them. Brendon McCullum c de Villiers b I Abdulla 1(4)
I Abdulla to Brendon McCullum, THAT'S OUT!! Caught!!
Iqbal Abdulla, left-arm orthodox, comes into the attack
One slip..
0.6 -
Aravind to Brendon McCullum, 1 run, very good over. Keeps McCullum back with the length and skids it on quick. McCullum hurries to get his bat in front and pokes one to mid-off, not off the middle, to get the run
0.5 -
Aravind to Brendon McCullum, no run, another wild swing. Is it too soon? Looks to swing a length delivery over deep square leg, is early into the shot and the ball ricochets off the keeper's gloves to roll away. Not too far to run an extra
0.4 -
Aravind to Brendon McCullum, no run, defended to a short cover in place. Kohli expects the pitch to hold up and a drive to be uppish. On a length, good bounce and McCullum pendulums his bat inside the line and defends it off the splice to the fielder
0.3 -
Aravind to Finch, leg byes, 1 run, cuts the angle off and fixated this on leg-stump. The ball held its angle and skids on, Finch is late on the tickle and frisks the pad away for the leg bye
0.2 -
Aravind to Finch, no run, and again. Pushes it fuller this time, Finch opens up on the cut and is duped by the bounce again. Played the angle there but there seems to be some bounce demons early on here
0.1 -
Aravind to Finch, no run, false start.. for Finch. Aravind pings a back of a length from over the wicket, not enough bounce as Finch swings across the line with flat foot. Under the wielding bat and beaten
Finch and Brendon McCullum are at the crease. Finch is on strike. Aravind will open the attack
How? Just how did BLR win that? AB de Villiers, that's how. As Kohli said, what composure. They should just rename one of Bengaluru's areas after him (I'm only saying that so I could spell it). What was amazing was the way he timed his innings. Didn't panic in the beginning, and shifted gears seamlessly to reach overdrive. With that, BLR are through to their third final in 9 seasons. GUJ, well, they had their moments. They had more than that actually. I can only begin to wonder how they must be despairing right now. But they have to pick themselves up for Friday. For now, it's time to wrap things up in our comm box. This is Sagar Chawla bidding goodbye on behalf of Pratyush Sinha, Ramakrishnan, Raju Peethala, and our scorer Sreenivas. Soak it all in. The phenomenon of AB de Villiers. Good night!
AB: "I was very very nervous. Just wanted to focus on the basics. Take it one ball at a time. Knew if I was there till the end, we would be close. Virat told me to have a go at Smith, as there was a bit of bad weather around. There was one six which just cleared the fence, got lucky there. I played just normal shots until the Smith over. Have to mention about the crowd, I think it's the loudest I have ever heard a crowd in my life. See you all on Sunday. I also thought we were out of it. Kulkarni bowled an amazing spell, I congratulated him for it, almost had the game in their pocket. Cricket is a funny game, Zaheer Khan always says that to me. Speaks volumes about the character of the side. We have built something special with Vettori and Virat. Shows if you stick with the same squad and have the right spirit, good things come your way. We were down and out in the first half of the tournament and have turned it around."
AB de Villiers is Man of the Match..
Kohli: "Unbelievable. I can't believe that I'm standing here as the winning captain. I think this should settle the debate about who is the best in the world. Come the big game, the big man steps up. I just bow down to him. Probably one of the best knocks under pressure I have seen. I'm happy for him and the team. We have played good cricket to reach the play-offs. I could see the opposition was worried about him, what he can do at the end of the innings. Credit to Abdulla as well for hanging out there with AB. Wonderful composure from the young guy. It (the pitch) did play a bit slow in the first half of the first innings, but then it played out nicely. I wasn't very unhappy with the light showers which settled the wicket. High pressure game, it doesn't matter if you are playing on a cement wicket, you need composure. It has been scripted perfectly for us, play-offs in Bangalore, final in Bangalore. This one is for the people of Bangalore. We can't wait to grab it."
Raina: "I think we bowled very well. AB batted well. We bowled well upfront. On this ground you never know what can happen later on. Still we have one more game to go in Delhi, hopefully we can make the final. When you are 9/3, it was very good batting from Smithy and ED (Dwivedi). I think 160 was defendable and DK (Kulkarni) bowled in the right areas. But AB is a world class batsman. When you have got Chris, Kohli, Rahul, everybody you have dismissed, I guess the luck didn't go our way. Still, boys did a good job. Hopefully we'll win in Delhi and come back here."
In a nutshell, a match that defied sixth sense and compensated for normalcies alike. Normalcies like Kohli's seemingly unstoppable form, Chinnaswamy's flat pitch and its reputation of tailoring out pie chases, and the 'new ball fetches runs in India' theory. What remained untouched was de Villiers' grandeur which motored BLR, literally, to a finale spot.. after doom beckoned at 31/5 after 6 overs. Kulkarni's initial burst - that saw Kohli, Gayle, Rahul and Baby form a bee-line back to the pavilion - had wrecked the chase before it could take off but de Villiers waited for Binny's cameo to end, took over to stitch a mega-partnership better-half'd by Abdulla's innings that gradually evolved to 'handy', timed the counterattack with Jedi mind powers and brutally rendered Kulkarni's 4/14 figures impotent.
Not much of a reaction from AB before Chahal leapt on him causing the helmet to dislodge. This is ecstasy of another level. Lets go to the disconsolate captain, Raina and see what he has to say.
18.2 -
P Kumar to I Abdulla, 2 runs, this is it! A jail-break from Shawshank Prison. AB de Villiers, you phenom! But it's Abdulla who hits the winning runs by flicking a low full toss through mid-wicket and then watches all his team-mates make a mad dash towards him
18.1 -
P Kumar to de Villiers, 1 run, almost a yorker and AB can't do much more than jamming it down to long-on
The roof will come down in 3...2..1...
17.6 -
Dwayne Bravo to I Abdulla, FOUR, another four. The over goes for 18 and just 3 more needed. It's done. Full on the pads, and Abdulla flicks it down to the deep backward square fence
17.5 -
Dwayne Bravo to I Abdulla, FOUR, and now the outside edge flies! This is flabbergasting for GUJ. So much work, so many right tactics and it's all coming apart. Off-cutter on a length outside off, Abdulla dances down and swings and it runs away past the keeper
17.4 -
Dwayne Bravo to I Abdulla, FOUR, and he follows it up with a boundary. Decent short ball gunning for the helmet, Abdulla sees it all the way, rolls his wrists on the pull and hits it fine to beat Kulkarni
Oh now, listen to this... "Abdulla, Abdulla, Abdulla" ringing in the Chinnaswamy.
17.3 -
Dwayne Bravo to de Villiers, 1 run, length ball around middle, flicked away behind square
17.3 -
Dwayne Bravo to de Villiers, wide, and Bravo is again not happy with the umpire's call. He thinks AB has got something on the ball on its way to the keeper. And he's probably right. Might have flicked the pad down leg
17.2 -
Dwayne Bravo to de Villiers, no run, Bravo can't stop appealing. And Anil Chaudhary can't understand why. Slower, fuller and wider outside off, AB is backing away too far and takes himself away from the line while attempting a drive, misses it
17.1 -
Dwayne Bravo to de Villiers, leg byes, FOUR, Chinnaswamy had put on a veil, and now it's coming off. The boundaries are flowing once more. AB shapes to reverse-slog, misses out but the ball runs away off the thigh pad to beat short third man
Dwayne Bravo [2.0-0-12-0] is back into the attack
21 from 18! GUJ should still believe. Get AB now, and things can change. Here comes Bravo, aiming to do just that.
16.6 -
P Kumar to de Villiers, 1 run, low full toss around off, the kind which you can't get under, so AB drills it happily to long-on to keep strike
16.5 -
P Kumar to de Villiers, FOUR, what the ... ? I meant, what the heck (what did you think?). What do you do as a bowler? But this isn't a great delivery, has to be said. He's bowled length and AB has reverse-swept it to split backward point and short third man
16.4 -
P Kumar to de Villiers, no run, nails the yorker this time, and AB can't do much
16.3 -
P Kumar to de Villiers, SIX, the crowd is going bananas! This is awesome. Short ball from PK, sits up around off and AB pummels the pull over deep mid-wicket
16.2 -
P Kumar to de Villiers, no run, right off the toe-end of the bat! He went to the off-side too early trying a sweep. Praveen saw him. Slowed it right down and hoodwinked AB into playing it early. Dribbles away towards extra-cover
16.1 -
P Kumar to I Abdulla, 1 leg byes, slower back of a length delivery on the pads from round the wicket, Abdulla misses out on a flick and picks an extra
Praveen Kumar [2.0-0-18-0] is back into the attack
33 in 24.. This has been one of the more amazing turnarounds in recent history. They were gone, the BLR. And now they are in pole position...
15.6 -
Jakati to I Abdulla, 1 run, drilled down to long-on
15.5 -
Jakati to I Abdulla, SIX, Abdulla into the act! And just clears the ropes at deep mid-wicket. Looks like GUJ have been taken aback all of a sudden. Jakati blesses the batsman with a full toss, and is heaved away. A mistimed one at that. But this thin air
15.4 -
Jakati to de Villiers, 1 run, AB has got the boundary early on in the over and now he is happy to punch it to deep cover
15.3 -
Jakati to I Abdulla, 1 run, now Abdulla is feeding off his partner's confidence. Skips out of the crease and crunches a lofted drive without much elevation. On the bounce to long-off
15.2 -
Jakati to de Villiers, 1 run, flatter and slightly shorter outside off, AB punches it through the point region
The crowd has sprung to life... "ABD, ABD, ABD"
15.1 -
Jakati to de Villiers, SIX, walks right across off while bending his knees, gets inside the line of the ball and sweeps so divinely into the deep backward square leg stands
Shadab Jakati [2.0-0-29-0] is back into the attack
14.6 -
Dwayne Smith to I Abdulla, 2 runs, shortish on the body, but unlike Bravo's bouncers, this doesn't have height, Abdulla pulls it in front of square for a brace
14.5 -
Dwayne Smith to de Villiers, 1 run, well done DJ Bravo at long-on! Another powerful flat-batted thump to a slower ball, it's wide of long-on where Bravo runs across and gets his body behind with a dive. The rebound is collected by a converging deep mid-wicket
14.4 -
Dwayne Smith to de Villiers, SIX, this he has mistimed .. and will hole out. Wait a minute. The ball keeps going. In fact it's cleared long-off. Oh my! It was a slog gone wrong. Sliced it off the outside half but these boundaries. Oh so short
14.3 -
Dwayne Smith to de Villiers, FOUR, here goes AB! This was always going to be the over. Or maybe he just has to go for it looking at the competency of his partner. Comes down the track and marauds a flat-batted thwack straight of long-on. It's his fifty as well...
14.2 -
Dwayne Smith to I Abdulla, 1 run, similar to the first ball, chopped away to deep cover
Kohli is getting twitchy on the sidelines. Gestures animatedly for Abdulla to rotate strike..
14.1 -
Dwayne Smith to I Abdulla, no run, shortish and wide outside off, Abdulla goes flashing after it without any feet and misses
Dwayne Smith, right-arm medium, comes into the attack
Smith now. To cover up for Jakati I suppose..
13.6 -
Dwayne Bravo to I Abdulla, 1 run, again, this is a good short ball. It's over Abdulla's shoulders which means he can't control the pull, and the line is just outside off as well. It loops away through the unmanned square leg region
13.5 -
Dwayne Bravo to I Abdulla, no run, comes down the track, perhaps gets a bit too close to the ball and jams it straight to Raina at cover
13.4 -
Dwayne Bravo to de Villiers, 1 run, punched firmly off the back foot, firm enough to induce a misfield from Bravo in his followthrough
13.3 -
Dwayne Bravo to I Abdulla, 1 run, this one is a normal pace short ball and Abdulla is hurried on the pull, gets it high on the bat and lobs it in front of long-on
13.2 -
Dwayne Bravo to I Abdulla, no run, a huge scream from Karthik who wasn't able to stop hopping after pouching the ball, but nothing from the umpire. Bravo joined the appeal belatedly. Slower short ball drifting across off, Abdulla jumps to match the bounce but is late on the upper-cut and fails to connect. Think the ball crossed him easily before the bat came up. Or maybe not. Hang on! There is a slight flicker on snicko, not substantial though. We'll never know I guess
Abdulla on strike. He needs to be able to turn strike over...
13.1 -
Dwayne Bravo to de Villiers, 1 run, he's just bent his knees after picking the slower ball and flat-batted the drive through the covers
Strategic time-out! It all rests on AB. That's all I can say. 67 in 42, yeah, doable. But BLR have lost too many wickets. If they lose AB in the coming 40 runs, it's all but over..
12.6 -
Jadeja to I Abdulla, no run, more discomfort for Abdulla as he is hurried by a flat delivery and he chops it off the inside edge onto pad
12.5 -
Jadeja to de Villiers, 1 run, punched off the back foot and with the turn to sweeper cover
12.4 -
Jadeja to I Abdulla, 1 run, oh close! Just about gets the pad out of way and then dabs it down in front of short third man. Turned back in sharply despite being fired through and cramped Abdulla for room. Did well to adjust
12.3 -
Jadeja to I Abdulla, no run, Abdulla misses out on a full toss. Firstly, he converted it into one by the nimble use of the feet but then drove it straight to Raina at cover
12.2 -
Jadeja to de Villiers, 1 run, opts to sit back this time and roll his wrists to work it down to long-on
12.1 -
Jadeja to de Villiers, no run, a slinging dart angled in on off, AB prods forward and blocks to cover
Ravindra Jadeja [3.0-0-18-2] is back into the attack
11.6 -
Dwayne Bravo to I Abdulla, no run, slower and fuller off-cutter outside off, Abdulla pats it wide of Raina at short extra-cover and steps out looking for a single. The GUJ captain is quick though. Cuts it off
11.5 -
Dwayne Bravo to de Villiers, 1 run, oh he's been done in by a slower ball and flicked it in the air, lucky that it went wide of mid-wicket. AB came dancing down and was utterly duped. Single
11.4 -
Dwayne Bravo to de Villiers, FOUR, this match is not yet buried. Not while this guy is holding fort. It's not even a half-volley but AB presses across and plays a blistering extra-cover drive. Some of the grass is still burning along the path to the boundary
11.3 -
Dwayne Bravo to I Abdulla, 1 run, back of a length outside off, Abdulla stays flat-footed and glides it down to third man with the angle
11.2 -
Dwayne Bravo to de Villiers, 1 run, normal pace full ball just outside off, AB works it down to long-on
11.1 -
Dwayne Bravo to I Abdulla, 1 run, AB is home! Yes he is. We are going upstairs to check but that guy is quick. In by a foot or two. Slower ball down leg, Abdulla needn't have played at it but decided to do it anyway. Glances it softly in front of short fine leg who rifles down the stumps in the hope of running AB out. Hope, pure hope
Dwayne Bravo, right-arm fast medium, comes into the attack
Here comes the death overs specialist..
10.6 -
Jakati to I Abdulla, 1 run, Abdulla thinks about a second after tucking it through the square leg region, but the fielder sweeping in from the deep is very quick. Not there
10.5 -
Jakati to de Villiers, 1 run, pushes it through, punched off the back foot to deep cover
10.4 -
Jakati to de Villiers, SIX, there goes the free-hit, sailing straight back over long-off. Jakati fired it quicker but missed the length, it was right in the slot and AB killed it with a vicious swing of the arms
10.4 -
Jakati to I Abdulla, no ball, 1 run, panics after seeing Abdulla give the charge and bowls a very high full toss which is swung away to deep mid-wicket
10.3 -
Jakati to I Abdulla, no run, switches to over the wicket for the left-hander, keeps the trajectory flat and Abdulla punches it back to him
10.2 -
Jakati to de Villiers, 1 run, darted again, short and wide this time and he has been cut through the covers
10.1 -
Jakati to de Villiers, no run, flat at the stumps from round the wicket, AB drives it off the back foot straight back to the bowler
9.6 -
Jadeja to de Villiers, 1 run, adjusts to the low bounce and controls the pull through mid-wicket
9.5 -
Jadeja to I Abdulla, 1 run, got forward and clipped this to mid-wicket. Jaddu wasn't happy as Raina stationed himself too wide
Iqbal Abdulla, left handed bat, comes to the crease
9.4 -
Jadeja to Binny, out Lbw!! Jaddu is cock-a-hoop, so are his colleagues. Was Binny struck outside off? Replays certainly show that he was clearly hit outside the line of off. One sweep too many from Binny, knelt down and failed to put bat to ball on this sweep. Was hit just outside the line of off and the umpire took his own, sweet time before raising his finger. Virat Kohli ain't happy with the verdict. Binny lbw b Jadeja 21(15) [4s-2 6s-1]
Jadeja to Binny, THAT'S OUT!! Lbw!!
9.3 -
Jadeja to de Villiers, 1 run, loopy outside off, AB drives through the covers
9.2 -
Jadeja to Binny, 1 run, allows this quicker one to come in and pushes with an open blade towards cover-point
9.1 -
Jadeja to de Villiers, 1 run, touch short outside off, de Villiers makes room slightly and slaps this to long-off
Ravindra Jadeja [2.0-0-13-1] is back into the attack
Time-out! This partnership is the key for BLR, have gathered some momentum in the last couple of overs and DK has finished his spell. They cannot afford to lose any more wickets though as there's not much batting left. Mind you! Gujarat haven't used DJ Bravo yet...
8.6 -
Jakati to Binny, no run, and again! Not much of turn on this one, but Binny played safe there
8.5 -
Jakati to Binny, no run, takes a step forward to negate the spin on this tossed up delivery, back towards the bowler
8.4 -
Jakati to Binny, SIX, this has been spanked! Down the track, got to the pitch of this flighted delivery and deposited it way back into the stands at long-off. The crowd are loving it, BLR dug out cheer, hoot, clap...
8.4 -
Jakati to Binny, wide, down leg, Binny half-turns and misses the glance
8.3 -
Jakati to Binny, FOUR, well played! Binny drops to one knee and sweeps this full ball from middle and off, slots it well wide of short fine and gets the desired result
8.2 -
Jakati to Binny, FOUR, waltzes down the pitch and is slightly deceived in the flight, still goes through with the swipe and ends up slicing it over backward point. Outside edge, but safe!
8.1 -
Jakati to de Villiers, 3 runs, flatter outside off, de Villiers hung back and slashed hard at it, went for the cut but the inside edge nutmegs DK and raced away towards the third man fence. Dwivedi sprints in, dives and prevents a boundary
Shadab Jakati, left-arm orthodox, comes into the attack
Jakati into the action. One slip for him
7.6 -
D Kulkarni to de Villiers, 1 run, smidgen full outside off, de Villiers drives one through extra cover and retains the strike
7.5 -
D Kulkarni to de Villiers, no run, slower bouncer at the batsman, AB was early into the pull, drags it towards mid-wicket
7.4 -
D Kulkarni to Binny, 1 run, floats this fullish one outside off, driven into the same region
7.3 -
D Kulkarni to Binny, 2 runs, full and tilting in towards off, Binny drives and this time there's no confusion in running between the wickets
7.2 -
D Kulkarni to de Villiers, 1 run, allows the length ball to angle in and then works it towards long-on
7.1 -
D Kulkarni to Binny, 1 run, a direct hit would have been curtains for Binny! He dabs this towards Jaddu at backward point and was a tad slow to take off, Jaddu aims and misses at the bowler's end
6.6 -
Jadeja to de Villiers, FOUR, Dhawal Kulkarni misfields and concedes a boundary. With the way he's been bowling Raina and Gujarat won't mind that. It was in the slot (outside off) to be punished and AB obliged. A classy drive through extra cover, but DK's dive wasn't good enough
6.5 -
Jadeja to de Villiers, FOUR, outside edge and past the lone slip! Jaddu fires it full outside off, just that slight bit of away turn to take the outside edge and run past the fielder, all the way to the third man fence
6.4 -
Jadeja to Binny, 1 run, stays back and wrists this length delivery through mid-wicket
6.3 -
Jadeja to Binny, no run, bowls a floaty dart and squares Binny up, he was perhaps trying to work one into the on-side, ekes out a soft leading edge which lobs in front of backward point
6.2 -
Jadeja to Binny, no run, forward and pushed straight to cover
6.1 -
Jadeja to de Villiers, 1 run, looped up just outside off, de Villiers leans into a forward drive and slots it past a diving cover
5.6 -
D Kulkarni to de Villiers, 1 run, fuller and wider, AB goes for the drive, slices it off a thick outside edge that dribbles down to third man
5.5 -
D Kulkarni to Binny, 1 run, a little too straight, Binny clips towards mid-wicket and is off the mark with a single
5.4 -
D Kulkarni to Binny, no run, tests Binny in the outside off zone, modestly tapped towards cover
Stuart Binny, right handed bat, comes to the crease
5.3 -
D Kulkarni to Sachin Baby, out Caught by Jakati!! This might well be over even before you finish your dinner. DK is having a dream spell in the middle, might be his night today. Lands it on a length outside off and asks Sachin Baby to go for an uppish punch/drive. He strikes it straight to cover where Jakati leaps and grabs sans any fuss. The crowd, well...let's not talk about them. Sachin Baby c Jakati b D Kulkarni 0(3)
D Kulkarni to Sachin Baby, THAT'S OUT!! Caught!!
5.2 -
D Kulkarni to Sachin Baby, no run, good length around fifth stump, Sachin Baby punches it into the ground towards backward point
5.1 -
D Kulkarni to de Villiers, 1 run, back of a length wider of off, de Villiers goes hard on the cut, chops it into the cover region
DK continues
4.6 -
Jadeja to Sachin Baby, no run, leans forward and smothers the spin on this delivery
Sachin Baby, left handed bat, comes to the crease
4.5 -
Jadeja to Watson, out Caught by Dwayne Smith!! TWENTY EIGHT FOR FOUR! Can you believe it? BLR are in deep, deep trouble here. Jaddu bowls it at 100ks outside leg inviting Watto to fetch the pull. He sits on one knee and tries to slam the pull along the ground. Lack of bounce meant Watson got a thick toe-end and it spoons up for Dwayne Smith - who at first slip, dives forward to gobble it up. Watson c Dwayne Smith b Jadeja 1(6)
Jadeja to Watson, THAT'S OUT!! Caught!!
4.4 -
Jadeja to Watson, no run, flattish outside off, Watson drives to the left of the bowler, a slight fumble at mid-off and Watto has been sent back
4.3 -
Jadeja to de Villiers, 1 run, crouches low and swipes one through mid-wicket
4.2 -
Jadeja to Watson, 1 run, the crowd have gone silent and rain seems to be eased out as well, early into the clip is Watto and the leading edge lobs wide of mid-on
One slip in place
4.1 -
Jadeja to de Villiers, 1 run, flighted delivery just outside off, AB eases this towards long-off
Ravindra Jadeja, left-arm orthodox, comes into the attack
3.6 -
D Kulkarni to Watson, no run, outside edge and safe! This back of a length delivery catches the edge as Watson is early into the tuck, rolls towards backward point. Double wicket maiden for DK, top-stuff!
3.5 -
D Kulkarni to Watson, no run, goodish length targetting the stumps, Watson is forced to block back
3.4 -
D Kulkarni to Watson, no run, length right in the channel, Watson lunges forward slightly and pushes into the covers
Another slip has been added as Watson trundles out for the hat-trick ball
Shane Watson, right handed bat, comes to the crease
3.3 -
D Kulkarni to Rahul, out Caught by Dwayne Smith!! Hey! Am I watching a match at the Chinnaswamy? The scorecard is certainly making it look like a Nagpur track. First ball duck for Lokesh Rahul. Good length delivery right in the corridor of uncertainty. The ball might have just nipped a bit. Rahul was opened up on the forward push/defence. Ends up feeding a thick outside edge to Smithy at widish first slip. Rahul c Dwayne Smith b D Kulkarni 0(1)
D Kulkarni to Rahul, THAT'S OUT!! Caught!!
Lokesh Rahul, right handed bat, comes to the crease
3.2 -
D Kulkarni to Gayle, out Bowled!! DK is having one heck of a night with the ball. BLR openers are back in the hutch and this might just turn out to be one of those last-over finishes. MUMGHT. On a perfect length to lure a drive from a laden-feeted Chris Gayle. Wide outside off as Gayle goes for the shot, takes the inside edge and the off-stump is shattered, so are the crowd. Gayle b D Kulkarni 9(12) [4s-2]
D Kulkarni to Gayle, THAT'S OUT!! Bowled!!
3.1 -
D Kulkarni to Gayle, no run, slower ball on the stumps, Gayle blocks
Whoa! Where's that come from? It has started to rain....That's not a good sign...
2.6 -
P Kumar to Gayle, leg byes, 1 run, arrowed in towards the pads, Gayle is a fraction late on the tuck, off the pads for another leg bye
2.5 -
P Kumar to Gayle, no run, DK is up to the stumps again! Gayle is slightly opened up as he tries to push one towards the off-side, just manages to tap it with soft hands in the end
2.4 -
P Kumar to de Villiers, 1 run, on a length and attacking the stumps, Chinnaswamy roars as de Villiers nudges this towards mid-on
2.3 -
P Kumar to de Villiers, SIX, shot of the night! He stands still, watches the length ball angle in towards him - Lofts it with a nice extension of the arms, high and over long-off
2.2 -
P Kumar to de Villiers, no run, slightly short outside off, hard hands again, de Villiers mistimes the cut towards cover
2.1 -
P Kumar to de Villiers, no run, fullish outside off, ABD goes hard on the drive, straight towards cover
1.6 -
D Kulkarni to Gayle, FOUR, just over a leaping mid-off! Another short ball outside off and Gayle fetches the pull from there. Got it off the top half and went just past Finch. Just a couple of inches away from him - actually he came in a touch, then saw the ball zoom over and tried to leap back. If had had held his ground, might have been a simpler attempt and even a catch..
1.5 -
D Kulkarni to Gayle, no run, ouch! That must have hurt. DK tests Chris Gayle with a bumper that rose up surprisingly, Gayle was going for the pull, was late, and that extra zip off the turf slams the ball into his helmet grille
1.4 -
D Kulkarni to de Villiers, 1 run, driven sweetly and a misfield at extra cover allows ABD to get off the mark
1.3 -
D Kulkarni to de Villiers, no run, length outside off, de Villiers drives straight to cover-point
AB de Villiers, right handed bat, comes to the crease
1.2 -
D Kulkarni to Kohli, out Bowled!! An absolute rarity. Virat Kohli out for duck, don't see that often in T20 cricket these days? Nevertheless it's a huge breakthrough for the Gujarat. Dhawal Kulkarni has his hands aloft and roars in delight. It was pitched on a back of a length and was wide enough to play the cut shot. The ball didn't bounce much and kept low to take the inside edge. Chopped on! Kohli b D Kulkarni 0(2)
D Kulkarni to Kohli, THAT'S OUT!! Bowled!!
1.1 -
D Kulkarni to Gayle, leg byes, 1 run, and he emulates his partner by sticking with that leg-stump line, Gayle fails to flick, the ball takes the pad and rolls behind square
Dhawal Kulkarni, right-arm fast medium, comes into the attack
D(hawal)K(ulkarni) to complement PK. One slip for him too...
0.6 -
P Kumar to Kohli, no run, prods forward and keeps his eyes on the ball as he pushes this fullish ball into the off-side, soft hands coming into play
0.5 -
P Kumar to Gayle, 1 run, slants this one around the pads, clipped away through mid-wicket
0.5 -
P Kumar to Gayle, 5 wides, poor stuff from PK! Loses his radar and bowls a dross well wide of leg-stump, so wide that DK can't fetch with a full length dive. 5 extra runs, that will help BLR
0.4 -
P Kumar to Gayle, no run, in the tight channel, played back to the bowler
Gayle isn't happy with the willow. Requests for a new one....
0.3 -
P Kumar to Gayle, no run, the keeper is upto the stumps but Gayle doesn't back away from the challenge. Sees the length ball swoop in and swipes it hard and straight towards mid-on
0.2 -
P Kumar to Gayle, no run, and he does so by angling across one outside off, Gayle with his laden feet lets it pass. It's again that low bounce doing the trick...
Dwayne Smith rushes in to PK and has a word with him. Probably asking him to test Gayle in that outside off channel
0.1 -
P Kumar to Gayle, FOUR, on leg-stump line and Gayle had no problems in glancing that away to the fine leg fence, neatly done
0.1 -
P Kumar to Gayle, wide, starts off with a length delivery sprayed down leg, Gayle watches it go past him
Gayle and Kohli are at the crease. Gayle is on strike. P Kumar will open the attack