Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
(Match at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru )
Take a bow, Warner and Co.. That's it from our sides, ladies, gentlemen, overjoyed SRH fans and disappointed RCB fans.. Have a great week.
SRH HAVE DONE IT... Warner lets off a cry laden with joy and pent-up adrenaline as they clinch their MAIDEN IPL TITLE with an EIGHT-RUN WIN.. They braved a Gayle Storm... They braved a Kohli blitz.. They deserve their night of revelry, and joy, and may be a few more after that..
19.3 ovs: WICKET.. Ojha makes up for his batting blemishes with a solid collect-and-throw-the-stumps-down routine with the gauntlets.. Jordan walks, and SRH have a hand on the Cup now.. 194/7
19.0 ovs: Jordan can't do much with the reprieve handed to him by Sran, adding just a leg bye after that... Baby, though, isn't fazed by the Fizz, and blasts his for a SIX off his last ball.. 18 off the last over.. 191/6
18.1 ovs: WICKET.. A ball-watching Binny is RUN OUT courtesy a screamer of a throw from Hooda.. RCB are doddering now.. 180/6
18.0 ovs: Bhuvi's foot fetish is working perfectly for SRH... Five balls laser-guided on to the toes of Binny and Baby, and the two have no answer for those.. The one he doesn't is reverse-scooped away for a FOUR by the latter.. 30 off 2 overs now... 179/5
17.0 ovs: Binny starts off like a boss.. Stays in the crease and sweetly lofts the Fizz over long on off his first ball for a SIX... It's far from over for him, RCB, and SRH, though.. 37 off 3 overs.. Let the nail-chewing begin.. 172/5
16.3: WICKET.. THE FIZZ STRIKES.. Watson's heave-ho off his trademark cutter goes hiiiigh in the air, and plops comfortably in the hands of Henriques.. RCB's wheels are coming off.. 164/5
16.0 ovs: SRH have somehow managed to peel back the tough hide -- read top order -- of the hosts' batting order, exposing their soft, not-really-tested-or-effective-on-paper-for-that-matter underbelly.. This, and a 47-off-24 winning equation, and two overs each from Fizz and Bhuvi.. Game on, gentlemen... 162/4
15.3: WICKET.. KL Rahul goes for a very not-so-like-him heave across the line.. Cutting gets his second for the night, a night he may -- maybe -- end up remembering for quite some time, indeed.. 160/4
15.0 ovs: SRH, after landing a painful one-two in the form of Kohli and ABD, have managed to make the required run-rate look much more menacing than it did ten minutes ago... 10.20, that be, courtesy a Watson biff off Henriques for a SIX... 158/3
13.4: WICKET.. SRH rope in another big cahuna.. ABD goes..
A miscue off Bipul and the South African is gritting his teeth ten second later.. Henriques -- the catcher -- has a huge grin on his face, and Warner an even bigger one.. 148/3
12.5 ovs: WICKET.. KOHLI GOES.. He brings up yet another FIFTY with a majestic inside-out cover-drive, but misjudges Sran's angling-away length ball.. His wickets are alight, and no 1000 for him this time.. David Warner is the one doing the fist-pumping..
12.0 ovs: The baton has been passed from Gayle to Kohli... Another striking whip through midwicket for FOUR off Bipul.. Irony that de Villiers is the non-aggressor at the moment.. Just for the moment, mind you... 129/1
11.0 ovs: Doesn't matter if the World Boss is now back in the dugout for RCB.. Kohli decides to put some pedal to the metal and scythes a Cutting slower ball through third man.. 120/1
10.3: WICKET... Gayle walks... His swat -- aimed twenty rows behind long on -- takes a top edge and lands safely in the hands of Bipul Sharma.. Cutting -- who we also think kind of resembles Arjun Kapoor -- is ecstatic... Warner is finally not doing a teapot.. Can SRH pull this back? 114/1
10.0 ovs: "Fizz who?" says Kohli, and does his usual inside-out-and-flay-through-covers routine.. Twice... A SIX and a FOUR happen, and RCB are 12 more runs closer to their maiden IPL tiara... 112/0
9.0 ovs: Gayle is now in Super Saiyan mode... Henriques is distraught after being launched into the stands twice for two gargantuan SIXES, and a slap through extra cover for a FOUR to boot, to bring up the 100 for RCB.. 100/0
8.0 ovs: Gayle is running away with the game for RCB at the moment... Another down-the-ground behemoth from the Jamaican leaves Cutting scratching his head... 79/0
7.0 ovs: Gayle isn't in the mood to run, so another SIX does the trick for him in this Henriques over, bringing up his FIFTY. Kohli looks as if he's ready to emerge from his self-imposed chrysalis, with a couple of cover drives -- that fetched him twos and made the fielders in the deep earn their salary -- looking like an announcement of that.. 69/0
6.0 ovs: The Fizz has been brought in to rein the two marauders in the middle, and he's won this battle. Kohli seems to be in recon mode at the moment, watching the proceedings till it is his time to step in... Gayle too accords Fizz the respect he commands with the ball.. Just four runs from this over.. 59/0
5.0 ovs: RCB are in no mood to lift their thumbs from the NOS button.. Cutting's introduction doesn't bother them, as Gayle collects 11 more effortless runs from just three balls.. The World Boss seems to be transforming into the Universe Boss.. 55/0
4 ovs: David Warner looks a worried man at the moment.. Gayle's swooshes didn't connect with three of Sran's length offerings, but they did on the other three: SIX, FOUR, SIX.. Sixteen runs, and RCB are off to a blistering start.. 42/0
3.0 ovs: It's still anybody's game at the moment. A relatively sedate start for RCB, but the World Boss and King Kohli are still brandishing their blades out in the middle... 26/0
*RCB begins their chase as man-in-form Virat Kohli and hard-hitter Chris Gayle take the crease against the strong Sunrisers bowling
The target is set. RCB needs 209 to win and lay hands on their maiden IPL Trophy.
20.0 overs: Cutting has made "Ben"galuru his.. TWENTY FOUR runs off the last over.. Watson isn't amused... At all.. Especially after a 117m monstrosity Cutting unleashed over backward square leg.. Just when we thought they'd fold up at 190-odd, SRH have cantered past the 200-run mark... 208/7, to be precise.. Kohli and his batting lieutenants need to pull a few rabbits out of their hats to win this one...
19.0 ovs: We're still scratching our heads for more "Ben" puns as he and Jordan -- courtesy his erring length -- gives SRH a bit of a "Cutting edge" in the over.. 16 runs despite the wicket.. 184/7
18.4: WICKET... Bipul trundles back to the pavilion now.. Another short ball from Jordan, but with a bent back to show, and the southpaw fails to negotiate with it... Chahal tumbles backwards at long on and keeps the ball in his palms.. 174/7
17.2 ovs: WICKET... A tragi-comic one that too... Ojha sets off for a non-existent run and is left stranded as Watson takes all the time in the world to take aim at the stumps to make the zingers light up.. Tom Moody is looking extremely disgruntled.. 158/6
17 ovs: The double blow seems to have taken the wind out of SRH's sails... Ojha, though, starts off in a flamboyant manner, guiding a Jordan short one down to third man nonchalantly... 156/5
16.1 ovs: WICKET... Yuvi this time. Watson plucks his catch inches from the ground and hangs on to it like he used to to his CA contract.. The Chinnaswamy roars in absolute delight.. 148/5 in 16.1 ovs..
16.0 ovs: WICKET. Before Deepak can say, "Hoo Da Man?", he decides to bunt Aravind's last ball down Kohli's hands at long on. Tame dismissal, this. Kohli though is blowing kisses to the audience, and his chewing gum seems to be in no danger at the moment. 147/4
15 overs: Sunrisers Hyderabad has justified batting first scoring at almost 10 runs per over with Warner completing a beautiful half century. After his departure, its Yuvraj Singh who has taken up the mantle finding the boundary at regular intervals.. (SRH 140/3 in 15 overs)
WICKET: The big fish falls. David Warner departs as RCB finally get their most-wanted wicket. Warner gets out for 69 of 38 deliveries as Abdulla takes a simple catch crediting the wicket to Aravind. RCB captain Virat Kohli jumps with joy as he punches in the air to celebrate the wicket.
Right-handed Deepak Hooda walk in to bat.
11 overs: It's as if this SRH batting line-up is built like a space rocket with Warner at its core. Two boosters down (aka Dhawan and Henriques), and they're still trailblazing away to a huge total. The third booster (aka Yuvi) seems to be in warm-up mode, and gets SRH past the 100-run mark with an oh-so-amazing cover drive that he loves conjuring up. 103/2.
9.5 ovs: WICKET.. But not the one RCB are so desperately vying for at the moment. Henriques is done in by a down-the-leg slider from Jordan, and his top edge nestles itself comfortably in Chahal's hands. Jordan has a wry smile on his face, though, courtesy two more Warner FOURS off his first two balls. 97/2. Yuvraj SIngh is the next man in.
9.0 ovs: We're running out of adjectives for this stocky, tank of a man who's been pullling the SRH juggernaut all on his own.. Firing the ball in doesn't work for Chahal either, as Warner cuts him twice for FOURS.. Nine fifties for the Australian now.. Virat Kohli is extremely dour faced at the moment... 88/1
8.0 ovs: Henriques, the new man in, is automatically delegated to the nurdler's role. Rightly so, as he gets Warner on strike, who decides to mangle Abdulla's opening over a bit. A loopy ball, and the Australian goes down on his knees, doesn't propose, but lofts it high, hiiigh over long on.. 75/1
*After some lusty blows the opening partnership comes to an end as Shikhar Dhawan departs for 28 of 25 deliveries. Yuzvendra Chahal picks up the wicket as Jordan completes an easy catch.
New man Moises Henriques walks out to join his captain David Warner. (Score: 65/1 after 7 overs)
*2.0 ovs: Gayle gets the early-ball duty with Aravind. A few darts from the Jamaican keep 'David Dhawan' in check.. 12/0
* It's the left-handed duo of David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan opening the batting for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
*Sunrisers Hyderbad captain David Warner has opted to bat after winning the toss against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final of the 9th edition of Indian Premier League cricket tournament.
* While RCB have fielded the same side from qualifier 1, Mustafizur Rahaman has returned to the playing XI in place of Trent Boult in the SRH side.
RCB: Virat Kohli (captain), Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, KL Rahul (wk), Shane Watson, Sachin Baby, Stuart Binny, Iqbal Abdulla, Chris Jordan, Sreenath Aravind, Yuzvendra Chahal
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Yuvraj Singh, Deepak Hooda, Ben Cutting, Naman Ojha (wk), Bipul Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Barinder Sran, Mustafizur Rahman.
(with inputs from agencies)