World Of T20 Cricket

R Vinay Kumar removed Sachin Tendulkar, Dwayne Bravo and Ambati Rayudu in one over to turn what had been a cat-and-mouse game until then, unmistakably Royal Challengers’ way, also taking them to the top of the table. He benefited in part from the pressure created by his team-mates’ smart swing bowling, changes of pace, bouncers to Indian batsmen, and aggressive spin bowling by Anil Kumble. It was a fitting reversal of roles for a man used to being among the top wicket-takers in Indian domestic cricket, and then watching others steal the spotlight – not the least when his state-mate Abhimanyu Mithun made his international debut ahead of him after just one season of impressive numbers.

There was no role reversal for Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey, though, who added 50-plus for the first wicket for the third time in a row to scythe through the target without breaking a sweat. Kallis tightened the orange cap around his head, taking his tournament tally to 264 undefeated runs, but Pandey missed a fifty after a good start for the third time in a row.

The Bangalore openers will be the first ones to concede that the night belonged to their bowlers. Praveen Kumar and Dale Steyn laid the foundation by controlling the rampaging batting line-up that had scored 200-plus in both their previous matches. Praveen, with his swing either side in his first over, sent the message that scoring wouldn’t be that easy against this attack, and Steyn in his first removed Sanath Jayasuriya with a quick outswinger.

Match Meter RBC Vinay Kumar strikes thrice: After Mumbai Indians made a decent start, R Vinay Kumar followed Anil Kumble’s strike with three wickets in the 11th over to reduce Mumbai to 76 for 6. RBC MI Pollard gives Bangalore a scare: Kieron Pollard created a semblance of hope for Mumbai when he hit Praveen Kumar for a six and a four in the 17th over. RBC Steyn hits right back: In the 18th over, though, Dale Steyn pulled Mumbai right back by removing both the set batsmen, Pollard and R Sathish. RBC Kallis and Pandey keep going: Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey once again added more than 50 for the first wicket, at good pace, taking Bangalore to 85 in 9.5 overs, and denying Mumbai even a glance at a comeback. Advantage Honours even

Then Bangalore resorted to the nasty plan that has worked effectively for them so far: bounce the Indian batsmen out. Aditya Tare square-cut a short delivery from Jacques Kallis immediately before lobbing a sharp bouncer. Saurabh Tiwary – two fifties in two innings before this – managed to muscle a few bouncers away, but never looked in control. Anil Kumble then got him with a loopy googly in the man-versus-boy contest. Vinay followed the bouncer theme, and got Rayudu at the start of that definitive over.

While Bangalore had toyed around with other batsmen until then, at the other end Tendulkar was batting in a sphere of his own. He played the flick shot at will, and manipulated the on-side field, but in nine overs he had faced only 21 deliveries. The 22nd that he faced, he tried to flick again, moved too far across and exposed the leg stump. If this was a slightly lucky wicket for Vinay, there was no luck involved in the pin-point offcutter that removed Bravo two balls later. In 10 balls Mumbai had gone from 71 for 2 to 76 for 6, in 11 overs.

R Sathish and Kieron Pollard had to be circumspect for the next few overs, to make sure they lasted the 20 overs. After a five-over wait, Pollard opened up, hitting Praveen for a six and a four in the 17th over, taking Mumbai to 123. In the 18th, though, Steyn hurt them further. If Pollard was a touch unfortunate in hitting a full toss straight to deep point, the sharp bouncer was too good for Sathish. The running, tumbling catch that Rahul Dravid took at midwicket capped a night of near-perfect fielding.

Praveen, though, provided a blemish on a night of near-perfect bowling, giving Zaheer Khan length balls, which he hit for a six and two fours to take 16 off the last over, but 151 was still going to be hard to defend at a ground that hosted 212 v 208 last weekend.

Not with predictable bowling at any rate. Both Bangalore openers started off cautiously in the first overs from Zaheer and Lasith Malinga. Certain that there was nothing on offer that they couldn’t handle, both of them attacked their second overs. It all went to an expected rhythm when Bravo and Pollard inside the Powerplay, as opposed to Harbhajan Singh. Their slower balls failed to surprise the batsmen, and their regulation pace was cannon fodder. By the end of Powerplay, Bangalore had reached 55. Pandey was 24, and Kallis, on 29, had already set his sights on another asterisk against his score.

Thereafter it was just a stroll in the park for Bangalore, made breezier by some lusty hitting from Robin Uthappa and Virat Kohli.

	Mumbai Indians innings (20 overs maximum)		R	B	4s	6s	SR
	ST Jayasuriya	lbw b Steyn	2	5	0	0	40.00
	1.3 and he’s nailed him this time! Similar ball, on a length from over the wicket and straightening after pitching on middle, catches Sanath on the hop. Umpire Kumar Dharmasena thinks for a moment and sends his long-time team-mate back. Big wicket! 6/1
	SR Tendulkar*	b Vinay Kumar	25	22	4	0	113.63
	10.3 The big Big fish is gone! Straight ball, angling from middle to leg, and Sachin tries to get inside the line and work it down. He exposes leg stump, the ball finds a way past and disturbs the woodwork. Mumbai Indians are in big trouble now. 75/5
	AP Tare†	c Pandey b Kallis	9	10	2	0	90.00
	4.3 Kallis has his man! The good old strategy of bouncing out young Indian batsmen pays off again. Kallis lets rip a very accurate bouncer, Tare is late into the shot and it pops up straight to short midwicket. 36/2
	SS Tiwary	b Kumble	25	21	3	0	119.04
	9.3 Jumbo has not lost one bit of the zip! Wonderful, wonderful googly, draws Tiwary down, and then turns from leg, beats the attempted loft by inches and crashes into the stumps. Great bit of bowling, and it’s quit amazing to see that Kumble has not lost a single trick, despite being out of cricket for quite a while now. 71/3
	AT Rayudu	c †Boucher b Vinay Kumar	3	4	0	0	75.00
	10.1 Rayudu goes! Mumbai have a bit of a wobble. Short and outside off, Rayudu tries a half-hearted half-cut, half-guide down to third man and gets a thick edge through to Boucher. 74/4
	DJ Bravo	lbw b Vinay Kumar	1	2	0	0	50.00
	10.6 Bravo is gone now! Vinay has picked three wickets in an over and ripped open Mumbai! Good ball, angling in again, short of a length, pegs Bravo back and catches him plumb in front of middle and leg. 76/6
	R Sathish	c Dravid b Steyn	24	22	3	0	109.09
	17.5 what a catch! Dravid, take a bow! Short and hurries on to Satish, he’s late on the pull, and the ball balloons towards midwicket, Dravid has room to cover, gets there and puts out a right hand and tumbles, and comes up with the ball. Top catch! 125/8
	KA Pollard	c Kohli b Steyn	21	19	1	1	110.52
	17.1 and he’s holed out to deep cover! That was not part of the plan for Pollard – full outside off at 139.9kph from Steyn, Pollard looks to carve it over the off side, but the timing’s not good enough for six, and too good for him to not be caught. Kohli takes an easy one at sweeper. 123/7
	Harbhajan Singh	c Kallis b Kumar	4	6	0	0	66.66
	19.1 got him! Short ball from Praveen, well directed again. Harbhajan top-edges the pull really high. Kallis gets under it and takes it easily at square leg. Bangalore have perfected the art of using bouncers to good effect in Twenty20. 135/9
	Z Khan	not out	23	9	3	1	255.55
	SL Malinga	not out	0	0	0	0	-
	Extras	(lb 10, w 4)	14
	Total	(9 wickets; 20 overs)	151	(7.55 runs per over)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	P Kumar	4	0	37	1	9.25	(1w)
	19.1 to Harbhajan Singh, got him! Short ball from Praveen, well directed again. Harbhajan top-edges the pull really high. Kallis gets under it and takes it easily at square leg. Bangalore have perfected the art of using bouncers to good effect in Twenty20. 135/9
	DW Steyn	4	0	26	3	6.50	(3w)
	1.3 to Jayasuriya, and he’s nailed him this time! Similar ball, on a length from over the wicket and straightening after pitching on middle, catches Sanath on the hop. Umpire Kumar Dharmasena thinks for a moment and sends his long-time team-mate back. Big wicket! 6/1 17.1 to Pollard, and he’s holed out to deep cover! That was not part of the plan for Pollard – full outside off at 139.9kph from Steyn, Pollard looks to carve it over the off side, but the timing’s not good enough for six, and too good for him to not be caught. Kohli takes an easy one at sweeper. 123/7 17.5 to Sathish, what a catch! Dravid, take a bow! Short and hurries on to Satish, he’s late on the pull, and the ball balloons towards midwicket, Dravid has room to cover, gets there and puts out a right hand and tumbles, and comes up with the ball. Top catch! 125/8
	JH Kallis	4	0	35	1	8.75
	4.3 to Tare, Kallis has his man! The good old strategy of bouncing out young Indian batsmen pays off again. Kallis lets rip a very accurate bouncer, Tare is late into the shot and it pops up straight to short midwicket. 36/2
	R Vinay Kumar	4	0	25	3	6.25
	10.1 to Rayudu, Rayudu goes! Mumbai have a bit of a wobble. Short and outside off, Rayudu tries a half-hearted half-cut, half-guide down to third man and gets a thick edge through to Boucher. 74/4 10.3 to Tendulkar, The big Big fish is gone! Straight ball, angling from middle to leg, and Sachin tries to get inside the line and work it down. He exposes leg stump, the ball finds a way past and disturbs the woodwork. Mumbai Indians are in big trouble now. 75/5 10.6 to Bravo, Bravo is gone now! Vinay has picked three wickets in an over and ripped open Mumbai! Good ball, angling in again, short of a length, pegs Bravo back and catches him plumb in front of middle and leg. 76/6
	A Kumble	4	0	18	1	4.50
	9.3 to Tiwary, Jumbo has not lost one bit of the zip! Wonderful, wonderful googly, draws Tiwary down, and then turns from leg, beats the attempted loft by inches and crashes into the stumps. Great bit of bowling, and it’s quit amazing to see that Kumble has not lost a single trick, despite being out of cricket for quite a while now. 71/3

	Royal Challengers Bangalore innings (target: 152 runs from 20 overs)		R	B	4s	6s	SR
	MK Pandey	c Pollard b Harbhajan Singh	40	27	3	2	148.14
	9.5 and now Harbhajan screams after taking out Pandey. Pandey swiped that straight to Pollard at midwicket. 85/1
	JH Kallis	not out	66	55	10	0	120.00
	RV Uthappa	c Malinga b Khan	23	15	2	1	153.33
	14.3 Caught at deep backward square-leg boundary and Zaheer gives a mouthful to Robin as he walks off. Hmmm… It was the short delivery at the body and Robin pulls and pulls well but can’t beat Malinga in the deep. 116/2
	V Kohli	run out (Pollard)	17	12	0	2	141.66
	16.6 from Khan, Virat is run out .. Slightly slower, short in length, Kohli is early through his pull shot and the ball bounds off the body to the off side … Pollard swoops in from backward point and fires a direct hit at the non-striker’s end with Kohli just outside the crease .. Virat lost a valuable second as he turned to look back at the fielder to see which side he was going to throw. mistake. 136/3
	EJG Morgan	not out	7	6	0	0	116.66
	Extras	(b 1, lb 1)	2
	Total	(3 wickets; 19.1 overs)	155	(8.08 runs per over)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	Z Khan	4	0	18	1	4.50
	14.3 to Uthappa, Caught at deep backward square-leg boundary and Zaheer gives a mouthful to Robin as he walks off. Hmmm… It was the short delivery at the body and Robin pulls and pulls well but can’t beat Malinga in the deep. 116/2
	SL Malinga	4	0	25	0	6.25
	DJ Bravo	3.1	0	35	0	11.05
	KA Pollard	2	0	24	0	12.00
	Harbhajan Singh	4	0	35	1	8.75
	9.5 to Pandey, and now Harbhajan screams after taking out Pandey. Pandey swiped that straight to Pollard at midwicket. 85/1
	ST Jayasuriya	2	0	16	0	8.00

written by Swapnil \\ tags: IPL, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers