By IANS,
Bangalore : Deccan Chargers tripped at the finishing line as Bangalore Royal Challengers fought back to clinch a three-run victory in a pulsating Indian Premier League (IPL) match here Saturday.
The two teams dished out an exciting thriller that went all along the wire and was the closest fought of the IPL matches so far.
Put into bat, Royal Challengers put up 156 for eight with Wasim Jaffer contributing 44.
Deccan Chargers were cruising along and had the run-chase well in control with Rohit Sharma (57) and skipper V.V.S Laxman (52) putting on 96 runs for the third wicket.
A flurry of wickets, however, undid the Chargers’ good work and they were left to score 20 runs in the last over.
Sanjay Bangar did not lose nerves as he faced experienced Anil Kumble in the last over and almost won the match for his team. Bangar hit Kumble for two successive sixes to raise hopes for the visitors. The first one, off the third delivery, went flat over extra-cover while the next soared over the mid-wicket boundary.
Six runs were required in the last two balls when Kumble squeezed all his experience out to see the Challengers through. Bangar could take only a single in the next ball though he went for another biggie.
Kumble fired a yorker in the last delivery and Arjun Yadav could take only a single as the M. Chinnaswamy stadium erupted in joy amid dazzling fireworks.
Earlier, Jaffer and Virat Kohli laid a solid foundation for Royal Challengers after they lost their first wicket cheap. Jaffer struck 44 off 37 balls that included six boundaries while Kohli’s 38 came in 29 balls with the help of two sixes and a four.
Bangalore were cruising at 85 for one before Deccan Chargers struck back with regular wickets. Jaffer top-edged a slog-sweep off the impressive Pragyan Ojha (2-28), who foxed Jacques Kallis in his next over. Kohli perished soon to Rudra Pratap Singh (3-41) before skipper Rahul Dravid (26) and Mark Boucher (16) scored some quick runs towards the end.
Chargers’ run-chase suffered an early jolt as they lost two cheap wickets. Adam Gilchrist (11) fell to Zaheer Khan (2-24) while Praveen Kumar (3-23) removed Herschelle Gibbs (5) with the scoreboard reading 31 for two.
Laxman and Sharma then joined forces. Sharma, who struck five fours and three sixes, played another sublime innings bringing up his third half-century of the IPL. But after he left, a flurry of wickets brought Challengers back into the game.
Kallis got rid of Sharma while Shahid Afridi could make just one run before Dale Steyn pulled off a superb diving catch at long-on off Kumar.
Then came two leg-before-the-wicket decisions which put the Chargers on the backfoot. Laxman, was out to a Praveen Kumar delivery which pitched outside leg, and when Scott Styris was given out in similar fashion to Zaheer Khan in the next over, it seemed Bangalore had sealed the win. Bangar gave his best shot but could not see his team through.