Royal Challengers clinch a last over thriller against Pune

Royal Challengers Bangalore pulled off a sensational chase at M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore as Gayle, de Villiers and Tiwari helped Bangalore chase 182 with a six off the last delivery.

Earlier, Ganguly won the toss and decided to bat. Robin Uthappa and Jesse Ryder gave Pune the start that was needed, with the duo amassing 63 under 7 overs before Ryder was dismissed for 34. Uthappa continued his run fest, as Ganguly departed after playing second fiddle. Uthappa was finally dismissed for a well made 69 off 45, with Pune’s score at 117 after 13 overs. Valuable contributions from Samuels, Smith and Kumar down the order took Pune’s score above par to 182, on a pitch that looked good for more, but variations from Bangalore bowlers kept the target from getting out of reach.

Bangalore lost Dilshan early to Dinda but Gayle got into the groove before becoming quiet again for a duration when Agarwal and Kohli departed. At one point, RCB required more than 13 runs per over with 8 overs left in the game. Gayle then launched Rahul Sharma off 5 consecutive sixes in the 13th over and the chase was on from that moment on. Nehra came back well after being carted for a six and bowled Gayle to make it easier to breathe for the Pune camp. But it was de Velliers’ pyrotechnics at the end which proved decisive. 21 were required off the last over as de Villiers collected 17 off 4 with the help of 2 sixes and a four. With 3 required off the last delivery, Tiwari picked the length delivery by Nehra over long on to start massive celebrations in the M. Chinnaswamy stadium for the hosts.

Scores:

Pune Warriors 182/6 (20/20 ov) (Uthappa 69, Samuels 34, J Ryder 34, V Kumar 2-34)

RCB 186/4 (20.0/20 ov) (Gayle 81, Tiwari 36, de Villiers 33, M Samuels 1-5)

Man of the Match – Chris Gayle