4th Consecutive Triumph for Royals

Posted by Swapnil in IPL on 03 24th, 2010 | one response

uthappa-csk-2 Bangalore is looking invincible. And now with 4 wins from 5 games they are strong contenders for a semifinal spot. Their 4^th consecutive win in IPL – 2010 against Chennai helped them to regain a top spot. In last 4 games it was Kallis who rescued Bangalore and won games for them yesterday it was Uthappa who played a splendid knock of 68 from 38 balls and set a match for Bangalore. Chennai paid heavy penalty for dropping Uthppa twice. He was dropped on 5 by Ashwin and got another life when he was on 25 when Vijay dropped one at long-on.

Bangalore started their inning at snail’s pace and were 19-0 in 4 overs till orange cap holder Kallis decided to cut loose and hit Balaji for two fours before getting out for the first time in this IPL. Kallis got out after amassing 283 runs from 5 matches which includes 3 fifties. Kallis departure brought in Dravid to the center; who had not got enough opportunities to bat before this game. He along with Pandey tried to accelerate the scoring rate but he got out to Murali after hitting him for four on previous delivery.

After loss of two quick wickets Virat Kohli and Uthappa scored 47 runs from 36 balls. But when it was time to up the ante in death overs Bangalore lost Kohil and Morgen. And it looked loss of Kohli and Morgan will affect Bangalore but Uthappa was in different mood. He thrashed Bangalore bowlers all over the park particularly Ashwin and Balaji. In the penultimate over hehit Balaji for 24 runs with 3 consecutive big hits over the ropes. Off-spinner Ashwin was hit for 17 runs in last over of inning. From 130-5 in 18 overs Bangalore sprang to 171-5 in 20 overs owing to Uthappa who scored his last 39 runs in just 10 balls. Raina’s inexperience to lead a side was quite evident from the fact that he introduced off-spinner Ashwin into attack in 12^th over and with only 5 bowlers in side he had to use him in death overs which cost them a lot.

In the absence of charismatic MSD it was upto Hayden and Raina to chase a mammoth total on a pitch that had some bounce in it. Bangalore pacers Pravin Kumar and Dale Steyn bowled brilliantly and didn’t allow Chennai to get off to a flier.Hayden ordered a Mini Mongoose to accelerate the scoring rate. Big man was looking dangerous with Mongoose in his hand but Dravid got him run out with a direct hit. With Hayden back in pavilion and asking run rate zooming past 11 it was going to be a difficult task for Chennai. They lost wickets at regular interval and in the end lost a match by 36 runs. Bangalore with four experienced bowlers in Steyn, P kumar, Kallis and captain Jumbo never allowed Chennai batters to free their arms and young Vinay Kumar struck gold again and returned with figures 4-40.

Chennai with three losses from 5 games is in spot of bother and need to get their acts right if they do not wand to miss a semifinal boat. Whereas Bangalore with perfect blend youthfulness and experience surely is a team to beat. And if they continue to execute their plans they will definitely go one step further this time. So watch out for Men in Red this season.

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