Mon, 03 Oct 2011 - IP Bangalore vs IP Somerset, Champions T20 League 2011, 16th Match - Bulletin

Gayle squall keeps Bangalore alive

Bangalore finally opened their account in the Champions League with an emphatic 51 run win over in-form Somerset to keep their hopes of a semi-final berth alive. Chris Gayle powered his way to a whirlwind 86 helping his side to a formidable 206 for 6, in return Somerset found the target a little too stiff, despite a Peter Trego blitz, fell well short of the target, only managing 155 for 6.

The big margin of victory meant that Bangalore still have an outside chance of making it to the last four provided they pocket the last match convincingly and other results in Group B favour them. Somerset, on the other hand, were dented by this heavy loss as their run rate plunged.

Somerset who had not played a match in about a week captain were strengthened by the return of Craig Kieswetter and Jos Buttler, the duo had missed the earlier part of the tournament due to national commitments. Their captain, Alfonso Thomas inserted Bangalore hoping for some early assistance under damp conditions.

Bangalore had no option but to go after the ball straightaway to make up for their poor net run rate. And, who better than Tillakaratne Dilshan and Chris Gayle to do it but Somerset could have prevented all the carnage if they had grabbed one of the many chances at the very start. Buttler failed to net a skier at extra cover when Gayle had made only four, a missed run-out opportunity off the same batsmen proved to be costly.

Meanwhile, Dilshan got the innings going with few cheeky shots including two scooped boundaries one of which could have resulted in a wicket only for the fielder to grass it. He departed after making 16-ball 23 while his partner, Gayle took some time to get his eye in and once he got used to the pace and bounce in the track, the ball flew to all parts of the ground. Virat Kohli replacing Dilshan hit a boundary off the last ball of the fielding restrictions to bring up Bangalore’s fifty.

Chris Gayle’s who had moved to 16 off 15 deliveries cut lose in the seventh over hitting a boundary and a maximum off van der Merwe. Starved of the strike in the next few overs, Gayle unleashed violence against George Dockrell, pummeling three sixes in the eleventh over as Bangalore crossed three figures.

Kohli exited in the next over after a breezy 33 but that did not deter Gayle to launch a full onslaught. The Jamaican brought up his fifty with a boundary down to fine leg, few more hits into the stands and Bangalore were going well over ten an over. Saurabh Tiwary and Mayank Agarwal too chipped in with little cameos as Gayle was in full flow at the other end. After 8 sixes and four boundaries, Gayle miscued a short delivery from Alfonso Thomas to be caught for 86 off 46 balls. The Gayle blitz was enough to blast Bangalore to 206 for 6, the highest total in this year’s Champions League.

Somerset needed to score at more than 10 from the very start and that showed the way they approached the target. The batsmen had no time to settle down and had to hit the ball too soon in their respective innings. As a result, Somerset batsmen with the exception of Peter Trego could not last enough to threaten the chase. However, openers Kieswetter and Trego set about the chase in an entertaining manner, adding 42 in 4.1 overs before Kieswetter’s faint tickle somehow stuck in the wicket keeper, Arun Karthik’s gloves.

Ven der Merwe hit a six but tried to hit one too many in the air, the keeper safely pouching a skier as Vettori had two scalps in the same over. James Hildreth found run scoring little difficult but Trego kept his team afloat with the odd boundary until the release over came in which he looted 24 run off Gayle. A couple of sixes and fours including one off a no-ball provided the receding chase some momentum as Gayle got a taste of his own medicine. Somerset were well placed at 102 for 2 at the half-way stage.

Barring that over, Bangalore bowlers showed discipline to keep danger man Trego off strike and get crucial wickets. Once the run rate climbed, even Trego found it difficult to keep abreast with the requirement eventually caught for 38-ball 58. After that, the last rites were duly performed as Somerset crashed to a 51 run defeat.