Wed, 05 Oct 2011 - IP Bangalore vs IP South Australia, Champions T20 League 2011, 20th Match-Bulleti

Last ball six blasts Bangalore into last four

If ever there was a shorter version of the famous 434 ODI, it was today at Chinnaswamy where Bangalore staged a remarkable fight back to chase down 215 on the last ball of the match against South Australia. Requiring a six off the last ball, Arun Karthik swung his bat on a Dan Christian slower delivery, connected well to send the ball sailing over the ropes and the stadium simply erupted. The remarkable win blasted Bangalore into the semi-finals where they meet another Aussie side NSW Blues.

For the second evening running it seemed an IPL team had been knocked out by a bludgeoning Australian side, Dan Harris’ century and Callum Ferguson’s fiery knock had powered Redbacks to the highest total in the tournament, 214 for 2. However, that was the only similarity with yesterday’s match that dumped Chennai. Bangalore came out all guns blazing, Gayle hit some lusty blows before Dilshan and Virat Kohli set the stadium on fire with a 100 run partnership off just 53 deliveries. There was a stutter towards the end as Shaun Tait picked up a five-wicket haul without most people noticing it but Karthik sparked off wild celebrations with the magical hit.

Needing more than ten from the very start, Tillakaratne Dilshan was the one to get the innings going before Gayle joined the party. The openers added 65 in 6.1 overs, Gayle skied a Christian short delivery for 26. With Gayle gone, the chase seemed to not going anywhere but then Virat Kohli decided to play an innings of a lifetime. Every time he tried a big hit, it came off without any of his shots looking ugly. For some time, it seemed only one man was batting from both the ends as balls kept disappearing into the crowd. Kohli was particularly strong on the pick-up shot over mid-off. Having come into bat when Dilshan had made a good 36 off 22 balls, Kohli raced past the Sri Lankan to the half century. Such clean hitting meant that the Bangalore chase had still its wheels on the road.

However, Kohli departure in the 15th over after a 36 ball 70 opened a little opportunity for the Redbacks as 50 more were needed. Nathan Lyon bowled a tight over, Saurabh Tiwary smashed a couple of balls into the crowd to normalize things, Mayank Agarwal and Vettori too chipped in as the equation tilted into Bangalore’s favour with 18 required from twelve deliveries.

Redbacks gambled with Tait in the 19th over and it paid off, first Dilshan was sent back through a searing yorker for 74 plus he conceded only 4 in the over. It all came down to 14 off the last over, S Arvind’s scoop got a boundary and man of the moment Karthik sealed it with a powerful swish.

Earlier, SA innings had a silent beginning as Dirk Nannes conceded only 3 runs in the first over. Then trundled in, S Arvind and his first ball his first ball disappeared over mid-off. Two more hits to the ropes in the same over followed by eight in a space of twelve deliveries got Redbacks off to a racing start; Harris dispatched 10 of the first 17 balls he faced to the boundary.

After five overs, South Australia had already 54 on the board but Bangalore left-armer Syed Mohammad had Harris’ partner Klinger stumped off a beauty for 7. That prompted Harris who had gone berserk in the first few overs to consolidate, along with Callum Ferguson, he played out the next few overs quietly. The duo ran well to convert singles into doubles, rarely playing a dot ball. Harris, meanwhile brought up his fifty as the stage was set for a charge in the second half of the innings. The block of five overs after fifth yielded only 25 runs, after that it was nothing less than carnage.

Ferguson hit his straps against Syed Mohammad picking up a couple of boundaries in the 13th over, went after Arvind to hit the first six of the innings in the fifteenth that took him to fifty. With runs coming thick and fast, Dirk Nannes was brought back but the momentum did not shift as Ferguson dispatched him over long-on and Harris hit a boundary, the psychological 150 mark breached.

Even though Ferguson exited after playing gem of an innings, 70 off 43 balls, and stand with Harris worth 114 in 12.3 overs. His partner, Harris by then had moved to 92 without smashing a single ball out of the park, finally connected one to move to 98. Incredibly the century too came off a six with the overall score motoring towards 200.

Poor Arvind who had been clobbered in the first three overs was asked to bowl the 20th, the evening just got worse for him as Dan Christian hit him for five boundaries including one of a waste-high no ball, Arvind’s four overs cost 69. By the time, the madness ended Redbacks had piled on 214 for 2, Harris unbeaten on 108 off 61 balls with seventeen boundaries and a couple of maximums, Christian raced to 27 off 9.