~~~CRICKET AROUND THE WORLD!~~~: 04/26/08

Bangalore Royal Challengers v Rajasthan Royals, IPL, Bangalore

Bangalore wilt against tight bowling

April 26, 2008

20 overs Bangalore Royal Challengers 135 for 8 (Taylor 44) v Rajasthan Royals
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Bangalore never recovered after Shane Watson removed the openers, both of whom fell to catches in the deep (file photo) © Getty Images

Last week Rahul Dravid's decision to bowl first at the Chinnaswamy Stadium came to nought as Brendon McCullum ran amok, but when Shane Warne, who can't seem to put a foot wrong for the Rajasthan Royals, went the same route, it was his bowlers who had the Bangalore Royal Challengers struggling at home for the second game in succession.

On a pitch that had a bit in it for the bowlers, Bangalore, perhaps, taking cue from McCullum's 158, felt that being positive was the way to go, but ended up at only 135 at 8, well short of Kolkata Knight Riders' 222 . Ross Taylor briefly threatened to do a repeat of McCullum's heroics, but it was Rajasthan who dominated proceedings, helped by an attacking shot too many from the batsmen.

The slide began early for the home team, as Shane Watson got rid of the openers. Dravid, who has been tentative so far in the tournament, was greeted with a short ball first-up, and for a moment it seemed the Bangalore captain had struck a six, but the ball landed safely in the hands of Ravindra Jadeja at long leg.

Two overs later, Jadeja was once again at the receiving end of a catch. Shivnarine Chanderpaul tried to pull one, but the ball took the top edge and found third man. Sohail Tanvir, though, had no such luck at the other end. He mixed up his pace and length, but Ross Taylor smashed two sixes in his first over - one over the bowler's head and the other a lucky edge that flew over the third-man boundary. Two more boundaries were creamed in the next Tanvir over, while Jacques Kallis came into the act against Watson, smashing two boundaries to open the floodgates.

Munaf Patel came into the attack, and Taylor carted him over midwicket for four, and bettered that with a six next ball. To irk the bowler further, an edge through vacant slip region went for four as the over fetched 15. The Bangalore batsmen, ridiculed by many as fit for a Test XI, seemed to be proving a point. But just when they looked in command, Kallis stepped out against Siddharth Trivedi, and the pull went straight to Munaf, stationed on the leg-side boundary. That should have been the cue for Taylor to rein in his attacking instiincts, but he too threw it away with another pull shot which found Graeme Smith.

Bangalore were struggling to 65 for 4, and that soon became 77 for 5. Virat Kohli, India's Under-19 captain, was fortunate, unlike his team-mates, while trying to clear the boundary. Jadeja at midwicket held on splendidly to the ball that was sailing over his head, but while trying to gain control, he hit the ground and just touched the advertisement hoardings, making it a six instead. However, he didn't capitalise, and nicked one to the wicketkeeper Rawat while trying to make room and cut one too close to the stumps.

The hold that Rajasthan's seamers had on the bowlers was reflected in the fact that Warne brought himself on only in the 12th over. He had instant success: Mark Boucher got an inside-edge onto the pads, and Rawat dived to pouch after the ball ballooned in the air. At 78 for 6, it was left to Praveen Kumar, the India allrounder, to salvage the situation.

Praveen, though, didn't look intent on hanging around till the end of the innings, and instead relied on big hits to boost the total. He did it with success, and sometimes with a bit of luck. A thick top edge off an attempted slog off Warne cleared the short boundary, but Praveen bettered that off the very next delivery. He went on to score 34, a score that ensured Bangalore played out their overs, and more importantly had a total to bowl at. Zaheer Khan chipped in with a run-a-ball 17 as well, but both he and Praveen would have to play important roles with the ball if Bangalore are to defend their 135.

Twenty20 match

Indian Premier League - 12th match
Bangalore Royal Challengers v Rajasthan Royals

2007/08 season

Played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, on 26 April 2008 - day/night (20-over match)

Result Rajasthan Royals won by 7 wickets (with 17 balls remaining)


Bangalore Royal Challengers innings (20 overs maximum)			R	B	4s	6s	SR
	S Chanderpaul	c Jadeja b Watson	2	9	0	0	22.22
	R Dravid	c Jadeja b Watson	0	1	0	0	0.00
	LRPL Taylor	c Smith b Patel	44	20	6	3	220.00
	JH Kallis	c Patel b Trivedi	11	10	2	0	110.00
	V Kohli	c Rawat b Patel	13	14	0	1	92.85
	MV Boucher	c Rawat b Warne	4	10	0	0	40.00
	P Kumar	run out (Rawat/Watson)	34	30	2	3	113.33
	SB Joshi	run out (Sohail Tanvir/Rawat)	3	8	0	0	37.50
	Z Khan	not out	17	18	2	0	94.44
	R Vinay Kumar	not out	1	1	0	0	100.00
	Extras	(lb 2, w 3, nb 1)	6

	Total	(8 wickets; 20 overs)	135	(6.75 runs per over)

Did not bat A Kumble

Fall of wickets1-1 (Dravid, 0.2 ov), 2-16 (Chanderpaul, 2.2 ov), 3-59 (Kallis, 6.3 ov), 4-65 (Taylor, 7.2 ov), 5-77 (Kohli, 9.4 ov), 6-78 (Boucher, 11.4 ov), 7-90 (Joshi, 13.6 ov), 8-131 (Kumar, 19.2 ov)


Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
SR Watson	4	0	20	2	5.00	(1nb)
Sohail Tanvir	4	0	31	0	7.75	(1w)
MM Patel	3	0	20	2	6.66
SK Trivedi	4	0	29	1	7.25	(2w)
SK Warne	4	1	23	1	5.75
YK Pathan	1	0	10	0	10.00


Rajasthan Royals innings (target: 136 runs from 20 overs)			R	B	4s	6s	SR
	GC Smith	c Kumble b Joshi	49	42	8	0	116.66
	M Rawat	c Boucher b Kumar	0	2	0	0	0.00
	YK Pathan	c Boucher b Khan	21	12	5	0	175.00
	SR Watson	not out	61	41	8	2	148.78
	M Kaif	not out	4	6	1	0	66.66
	Extras	(lb 1, w 2)	3

	Total	(3 wickets; 17.1 overs)	138	(8.03 runs per over)