Punjab beat Bangalore by 22 runs!
And what a superb all-round performance that is!
19.6 Wiese drives to long-off, and that’s a comprehensive circumstance.
WICKET! Khan c Hendricks b Anureet 4 (Bangalore 83-6)
Khan tries to bash one over cover, instead, deceived by a slower one, edges high to third man, and off he trots.
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9.4 One more, down to long-off.
9.3 Four sixes needed for a super-over, but there’s a dot!
9.2 They run one to square-leg - Khan with it.
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9.1 Dot. Khan tries a lap-sweep, slower ball does him.
9.1 No ball! Anureet fires in at Wiese’s sternum! They run one.
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9th over: Bangalore 79-5 (Khan 3, Wiese 0) This would now be an incredible effort, should Bangalore win. Bangalore require 28 runs from 6 balls
WICKET! Mandeep c Miller b Patel 20 (Bangalore 77-5)
It’s going to take a monstrous final over now - a flat, quick one is pulled by Mandeep, but he can’t make room for leverage, and spoons to square-leg.
8th over: Bangalore 74-4 (Mandeep 16, Khan 0) Interesting ... very interesting. Bangalore require 33 runs from 12 balls
WICKET! Karthik c Miller b Hendricks 2 (Bangalore 74-4)
Karthik goes - Karthik has to go - and Karthik goes, looking to hit high down the ground, but a low full toss means he can’t get under it properly, and sends a straightforward steepler to long-on.
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8th over: Bangalore 74-3 (Mandeep 16, Karthik 2) Hendricks returns; can Bangalore get after him? They’re desperate for a biggie, but he’s finding a full length and all they can muster from the first four balls are three singles and two leg-byes.
7th over: Bangalore 69-3 (Mandeep 17, Karthik 1) Punjab are strong favourites now - just as I predicted. Bangalore require 38 runs from 18 balls
WICKET! De Villiers c Hendricks b Patel 10 (Bangalore 67-3)
Bangalore are in a circumstance now! De Villiers feints to makes room, goes across his stumps, and flips a catch to the 45.
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7th over: Bangalore 67-2 (De Villiers 10, Mandeep 16) It’s Axar Patel into the attack, and after a leg-bye, Mandeep reverse-laps for four.
6th over: Bangalore 61-2 (De Villiers 10, Mandeep 12) Dhawan on, and after Mandeep nabs a single, AB pounds to long-on for four. But after that, not enough - a one and three twos. Bangalore require 46 runs from 24 balls.
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5th over: Bangalore 49-2 (De Villiers 5, Mandeep 5) First ball, Mandeep makes room and carves beautifully, away on the off-side for four. He or AB will need to sort this.
WICKET! Gayle c Saha b Sandeep 17 (Bangalore 44-2)
Something has to give and does! Sandeep, on to get a wicket, sends down one towards leg-stump, to bounces more than expected, and trying to pull, he edges behind.
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5th over: Bangalore 44-1 (Gayle 17, De Villiers 5) Presumably, Gayle wears the number 333 in tribute to the Shoreditch discotheque? Can anyone clear that up? Thanks. Sandeep is back, and neither batter can get him away - so, after four from the first three balls, he helps them with a leg-side wide seeking a yorker.
4th over: Bangalore 39-1 (Gayle 16, De Villiers 3) De Villiers said after giving birth to last week’s monster that he’s always wanted to bat at three, and here he is again. Gayle and he take singles from every ball, and that’s a good over from Dhawan - Bangalore need to get after this.
WICKET! Kohli b Anureet 19 (Bangalore 33-1)
Anureet gets wickets! This is a wide one, so Kohli goes after it and drags on; he’s revolted, even dropping his bat after twirling it. Who’s in next?
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3rd over: Bangalore 33-0 (Gayle 13, Kohli 19) Anureet into the attack, and he starts by thunking one into Gayle’s pad - this elicits the rare sight of a lumbered single. Next ball, Kohli waits for - it’s too short, so he spanks it over mid-on for four. Then, he drags a painful two out of Gayle, paggas six over long-on and panels four over short cover.
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2nd over: Bangalore 16-0 (Gayle 13, Kohli 3) Hendricks in from the other end, and shapes one by Kohli’s outside-edge - he enjoyed that, so much so that he semi-appealed on moral grounds. And another dot follows, Kohli cracking directly to mid-off, before a single into the on-side gets him off the mark. This is now a really good over, Gayle meeting a yorker to deflect two to square-leg and the over ends with just three more added.
...not out - bottom edge into the ground, onto the foot, and up into the hands of slip.
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1st over: Bangalore 10-0 (Gayle 10, Kohli 0) Sandeep begins with a jaffa, beating Gayle for pace and with a bit of movement - he nods. “Avenue of apprehension,” says Damien Fleming of the corridor of uncertainty. And then another dot, and then a slam of a fuller one over long-off for a monstrous six through the line. A helmet comes out - Saha’s going to stand up, so Gayle can’t dance down with abandon - and Sandeep delivers another dot. Gayle, though, was vex not to cart it around to square-leg for four, so does thusly to the next one. But the final ball hits the pad in front - looks plumb - the umpire says no, in which case it’s surely a catch behind - and we go upstairs...
So, we’re back - Virat and Chris versus the splendid Sandeep.
Bangalore require 107 to beat Punjab
And look pretty chuffed about it.
10th over: Punjab 106-6 (Patel 20, Dhawan 1) Single, and then a sneaked two to fine-leg - had the fielder thrown instantly, instead of getting closer, that would’ve been close. The final ball, Patel tries to hump over midwicket, but it’s picked out the man on the bounce and then manage just one. Great over, just six from it.
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WICKET! Gurkeerat c Karthik b Starc 2 (Punjab 102-6)
Gurkeerat flays at another full one, wider, this time, and a clunky edge sends an easy catch behind.
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10th over: Punjab 102-5 (Patel 17, Gurkeerat 2) Starc is full, obviously, and his first two balls yield just two singles.
9th over: Punjab 100-5 (Patel 16, Gurkeerat 1) So, here comes other Mitch - unless something crazy happens, Bangalore will fancy this.
WICKET! Bailey b Chahal 13 (Punjab 99-5)
Bailey takes a knee to lap-sweep, misses, and is bowled.
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9th over: Punjab 99-4 (Bailey 13, Patel 16) Patel clears his front leg and clouts Chahal with the spin to long-on - briefly, it looks like Kohli, running around the boundary, might get there to catch but it beats him, dropping just over. Then, after a bye and a single, one drops into Patel’s slot, but he finds the fielder down the ground and they only run one.
8th over: Punjab 90-4 (Bailey 12, Patel 9) Harshal returns, and opens with a dot, then the batsmen take a single each; not sure AB’s permitting that. By way of comparison, 131 is the highest T10 total, so maybe I’m wrong about what’s chaseable - they’ve not let us know if that was - but either way, five from that over isn’t enough. Bailey knows it too, so tried swiping its final delivery over midwicket, didn’t get the lift or power, and was almost caught - the fielder coming in couldn’t quite get to it, even with a full-length forward dive.
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7th over: Punjab 85-4 (Bailey 9, Patel 7) Wiese’s back, and Patel edges his first ball past Karthik for four. But this is another sound over from him, so Bailey has to go after the penultimate ball, skipping down and placing over cover for four. In commentary, they reckon 100-120 is decent - I’d be surprised if Bangalore didn’t chase that.
6th over: Punjab 70-4 (Bailey 2, Patel 0) Another decent over for Bangalore.
WICKET! Miller st Karthik b Chahal 14 (Punjab 70-4)
Good bowling, this - Miller advances, so Chahal fires outside off for Karthik to do the rest.
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6th over: Punjab 70-3 (Miller 14, Bailey 2) Ooof, and other guttural noises. The leg-spin of Chahal into the attack, and two lightening steps from Miller allow him to spank an almighty straight six high into the third - ! - tier. Next delivery, he goes again, and Kohli’s on the fence - but, though he gets hands to it, the power drags him down and the ball over. That looked a chance, but wasn’t.
5th over: Punjab 55-3 (Miller 1, Bailey 1) Punjab might be re-evaluating here - if these two get out quickly, suddenly they’re faced with not batting out their overs.
WICKET! Maxwell c De Villiers b Harshal 10 (Punjab 54-3)
A further pull of which not all is got - the commentator is sure it’s six anyway, but the square boundaries here are longer than in Bangalore, and clearly De Villiers isn’t grassing this.
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5th over: Punjab 54-2 (Maxwell 10, Miller 0) The batsmen crossed, so Maxwell has strike, and retreats in his crease to club four to square-leg - he doesn’t get all of it, but off it goes anyway.
WICKET! Vohra c Mandeep b Harshal (Punjab 50-2)
Vohra makes room to go over long-off again, but doesn’t get all of a slower ball, helpfully planting it directly into Mandeep’s hands.
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4th over: Punjab 49-1 (Vohra 11, Maxwell 5) Aravind - or Arvind as the telly has him - to, er, bowl out. And he starts well, a dot and a single, before Vohra shimmies leg-side and canes a slower ball over long-off for six. Next a single, then Maxwell whips to square-leg for two and one, keeping the strike.
3rd over: Punjab 38-1 (Vohra 4, Maxwell 1) Vohra bashes over cover, but the ball plugs and they’re forced to run three, before Maxwell blocks one! Then he tries a reverse-slambehind and misses, then a bottom edge gets him away. Excellent over.
WICKET! Saha c Mandeep b Wiese 31 (Punjab 34-1)
Saha goes at Wiese’s first ball, it’s full and outside off, but he tries to pull it around to leg. The ball goes worlds up, but Mandeep hollers and watches it all the way into his fingers. Er, here comes Maxwell.
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2nd over: Punjab 34-0 (Saha 31, Vohra 1) Kohli is furrowing and tutting when Aravind’s first ball is leg-side and rotten - Saha clumps over square-leg for a one-bounce four. Oh, and there’s another, a better block-hole ball edged behind. Aravind responds well, his left-armer’s angle passing Saha’s fence outside off, but then is based over his head with alarming timing and power. This is already brewing thrill, and then Saha thrashes back at the bowler - nae chance he’s catching that, but that catches him, crack on the bowling hand, goes for four, and there’s a delay while he clutches himself. That looked a real sair yin, so too the umpire’s horizontal arms when a leg-side one clips the pad and is signalled wide. Single from the final delivery, twenty from the over, and Bangalore are concerned.
1st over: Punjab 14-0 (Saha 11, Vohra 1) Well, that all-important first ball is paddled to backward point and gets Saha 2, but Starc isn’t fazed! “There’ll be no timeouts, no sponsorship deleted timeouts,” says the commentator. And then, after two singles, Starc strays leg-side with a yorker - Saha whips it away behind square for four, before four more to the same area, but in the air. He’s got a serious eye, and this is a great start.
Oh, and Bangalore are unchanged, while Punjab bring in an extra bowler - Dhawan for Vijay. Vohra and Saha will open.
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“The first ball’s very important,” reckons Dominic Cork, a contraction of the “the first hour” cliche that I’m not sure works,
Everyone’s out; excellent.
Oh, and three overs of powerplay, two over per bowler.
Right, we’ve got T10. Kohli calls heads, heads it is, and Bangalore shall bowl.
Bailey would’ve bowled too - the shorter the game, the better to know what you’re chasing.
Telly reckon we’re getting a game - the captains have left the pitch looking sprightly, so toss expected in ten minutes.
Suddenly, perhaps this isn’t so good - another inspection, at 6pm English time, 10.30pm Mohali time. There’s an area of outfield that’s still pretty wet.
Things look not at all bad. Forks have been poked, water forced clear, and I’d expect us to be underway within the half-hour.
There is concern about wet patches in the outfield, so we’re not that close to a start - it means another inspection in 15 minutes.
The umpires are inspecting.
Telly reckon 12 or 13 overs, which in theory, helps Punjab. Except Gayle, Kohli and AB batting the whole innings sounds profoundly disturbing.
Good news. Umpires are out, stamping down wet patches and the like. Looks like we’ve got ourselves a ball game - though of what nature remains to be seen.
There’s to be an inspection in half an hour. That’s overs lost, then, I think.
The covers are coming off, and captains and umpires are “in conversation”!
Gah! It’s raining!
Still mizzle and drizzle - on which point, is it possible to place any letter in front of “izzle” to convey light rain? Mr S. Doggy-Dogg must like that.
It’s raining again.
We’re ten minutes without rain now, say Cricinfo, who know. In theory, the toss is in half-an-hour, they think, but the covers are still on.
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BREAKING NEWS: AB de Villiers is good. Cheers, telly chaps.
Not much news about what’s what, but it’s only drizzle, so we’ll probably be good for a game at some point.
It’s been raining; it’s now raining again, and the covers are back on. Botheration.
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Kings XI have been the biggest disappointment of this year’s IPL. Well yes, they’re bottom and without a win in seven games. Well yes, but the players they have, they should be doing far better, whereas Delhi Daredevils, their fellow eliminees are where you’d expect them to be. So, with every team save those two out of the competition, this is a tricky engagement for Bangalore; games in-hand are only any use if you win them.
Kevin Pietersen Kevin Pietersen Kevin Pietersen KEVIN PIETERSEN. Wahey! Away we go!
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Daniel will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s Nick Miller’s report of Delhi Daredevils’ win over Chennai Super Kings yesterday
An excellent bowling performance and 70 runs from Shreyas Iyer helped Delhi Daredevils to a six-wicket consolation win over Chennai Super Kings.
The Daredevils are out of the tournament after a poor run saw them lose their previous four games, but this win served as a useful consolation over MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings, who are all but through to the play-offs and will be one of the favourites to win the tournament.
The win was founded on a superb bowling performance, as Chennai, batting first, never really got to grips with a slow and grassy pitch that made strokeplay difficult. However the Delhi attack, led by Zaheer Khan and Shahbaz Nadeem, bowled superbly and limited the Chennai openers to just 16 for one from the first six overs, the third-lowest powerplay score in IPL history.
Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith opened the batting, but could only score 11 from 21 balls and 18 from 24 respectively, and despite some game attempts by the likes of Suresh Raina and Faf du Plessis to up their run-rate, the Daredevils always looked in charge.
Read the report in full here.
