Gayle blitz takes Bangalore into IPL final
by Abhaya Srivastava
CRICKET: CHENNAI, India, May 28 (AFP) - Chris Gayle hammered
89 off just 47 balls as Royal Challengers Bangalore thrashed Mumbai
Indians by 43 runs to storm into their second Indian Premier League
final.
The hard-hitting West Indies opener hit nine fours and five sixes to
help Bangalore pile up an imposing 185-4 before Daniel Vettori grabbed
three wickets to restrict Mumbai to 142-8 in 20 overs at the Chidambaram
Stadium.
Gayle, the highest run-getter of the tournament with 608 runs from 11
innings, also shared 113 runs with his young opening partner Mayank
Agarwal who made a fine 41 off 31 balls. Bangalore, losing finalists of
the 2009 IPL edition, will now take on Chennai in the title clash at the
same venue on Saturday.
"The outfield was very quick and wicket was good to bat on," said
Gayle, 31.
"Lasith (Malinga) and Harbhajan (Singh) are their key bowlers so I
was looking to be a bit tentative against them. The wicket held up a bit
when they chased, so we don't know what to expect in the final."
Mumbai's chase began on a promising note but Bangalore bowlers struck
back to reduce them to 89-6 by the 13th over.
After losing opener Aiden Bizzard early, Mumbai promoted Harbhajan
Singh up the order at number three but the bold move backfired as he was
dismissed by medium-pacer Sreenath Aravind for a seven-ball 13.
Skipper Sachin Tendulkar kept Mumbai in the hunt, mixing caution and
aggression during a 40-run effort off 24 balls but his dismissal in the
eighth over triggered a batting collapse.
Middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma (13) was caught by Luke Pomersbach
off Vettori and two balls later Ambati Rayudu was trapped leg before by
the left-arm spinner.
Kieron Pollard's woeful run with the bat continued with the West
Indies Twenty20 specialist holing out to Abhimanyu Mithun inches off the
boundary ropes for three.
"I thought the way Gayle started, that set the tone for them," said
Tendulkar. "We ended up giving 15 runs extra, 170 would have been par. I
felt it (reaching the target) was possible, it was within our reach.
"But in the middle overs we got stuck. The middle order I felt could
have been more consistent, but it could not happen."
Bangalore set the early pace after being asked to bat first,
hammering 27 runs in the first over by paceman Abu Nechim and racing to
67-0 off just five overs.
Gayle reached the 50-run mark with a scorching four over the
mid-wicket fence but fell short of a well-deserved century with James
Franklin taking a superb running catch off Munaf Patel (2-27) in the
15th over.
Nechim, who gave away 56 runs off his four overs, had something to
cheer about when the in-form Virat Kohli played on to his stumps after
making just eight.
Patel had Pomersbach caught by Lasith Malinga (four) for his second
wicket of the game, the dismissal helping Mumbai pull back the run flow
somewhat towards the end of the innings.
Royal Challengers Bangalore 185-4 in 20 overs (C. Gayle 89, M.
Agarwal 41; M. Patel 2-27) beat Mumbai Indians 142-8 in 20 overs (S.
Tendulkar 40; D. Vettori 3-19, Syed Mohammad 2-25, S. Aravind 2-27) by
43 runs. |