Debutant Bairstow powers England to a clean sweep

Debutant Jonny Bairstow won the man of the match award for a powerful cameo of 41 off just 21 balls which included three massive hits over the ropes. He and Ravi Bopara had held their nerves in the end to put England over the line which at one time seemed highly improbable.

Overs: 31-32.2, Eng: 241/4

The winnings runs came in the 32nd over with Ravi Bopara flicking Vinay Kumar for an easy single.

Virat Kohli was hammered for 14 runs in the 31st over and with that the result of the match was more or less settle and India were all set to end the England tour without a single victory. Jonny Baristow again proved how strong the England setup has become with youngsters coming in an owning the international stage like none other.

Overs: 26-30, Eng: 215/4

This set of five overs cost India 51 runs and England more or less took the game away from the visitors in these five overs. Ravi Bopara once again was in the middle of it all keeping his cool and nonchalantly working his way through.

Jonny Bairstow proved to be the difference as England amassed 35 runs in the last three overs courtesy of some fearless brave hitting by the youngster thus closing in on the revised target.

Dhoni took the gamble by giving the ball to Jadeja who was milked for 21 runs in his last over and the gamble paid off as the itchy Trott while trying to cut a ball ended up giving a simple catch to RP Singh at backward square leg. Trott was looking ominous with a well made 63.

Debutant Jonny Bairstow though held his nerve and connected a massive slog to deep mid-wicket then reverse swept Jadeja for a boundary in the same over to ease some pressure.

Overs: 21-25, Eng: 164/3

Ian Bell, trying to clear the long-off boundary wasted his wicket to hand back India with a slim advantage after scoring a quick fire 26 of 21 balls.

Trott and Bell had got another a big over taking 10 runs off RP Singh. Trott had upped the ante and the 

pair of Bell and Trott reached fifty-run partnership in just 36 balls.

Jonathan Trott did not have a single six to his name in 34 ODI, but in this match Trott already hit two as both Trott and Bell milked Jadeja for 21 runs thus putting England back in the reckoning and India in a spot of bother.

Overs: 16-20, Eng: 116/2

Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja bowled few tidy overs to keep a check on the England score.

The 17th over produced a crafty reverse paddle sweep to four, a fifty for Cook, a dropped catch by Dravid the very next ball and finally the prized wicket of Cook with a slower delivery, and bowler, Virat Kohli. The wicket gave given India the advantage in Duckworth Lewis calculations with the required rate creeping up for England.

Munaf Patel slipped on the grass and tumbled on to the sponsor’s logo while attempting to catch a skier from Cook. The fall was very awkward and stretchers were out with Munaf in visible pain. India are now concerned about a player as well as losing out on few overs as well.

Overs: 11-15, Eng: 89/1

With rain pouring down in the backdrop, England seemed really desperate to get a move on as Trott and Alastair Cook went for unorthodox shots. Trott in fact was caught off a no-ball at mid-off in the 11th over.

But the pair evidently kicked off to their gears and the running between wickets was a proof of that. 

Ravichandran Ashwin had troubles gripping the bowl and even in the field, it was getting real tough.

Overs: 6-10, Eng: 58/1

Play resumed with a revised total of 241 in 34 overs.

Before the interruption, Munaf Patel came in as the first change and Trott hoisted him straight for a massive yet an elegant six.

Kumar and Singh after the rusty start made amends with good spell of medium fast bowling backed by superlative effort in the field by the Indians. Cook had troubles in the middle as he got lucky inside edges on couple of occasions as Trott got singles on a regular basis to tick over the scorecard.

Overs: 0-5, Eng: 29/1

After two expensive overs, Vinay Kumar bounced back well to scalp the dangerous Craig Keiswetter. With a scrambled seam the ball kept low as the wicket-keeper batsmen tried to play across the line only to be adjudged Leg before wicket by umpire Nigel Long

The opening bowlers Kumar and RP Singh were wayward to say the least at first giving the England batsmen too many loose deliveries to score off. They failed to stick to the plan and did not bowl according to the field. Both strayed down the leg side on many occasions.

Kesiwetter was evidently the dominant partner with Cook playing the second fiddle.

With a revised total of 270 in 40 overs, it is an uphill task for England to chase down the target with an economy of 6.81. Vinay Kumar started off the proceeding for India as Alastair Cook and Craig Keiswetter got 8 runs in the first over.

FIESTA de IPL: CHARISMATIC KALLIS ANCHORS BANGLORE

A batting paradise conquered by the throwback named Jacques Kallis, he is probably the most critiqued player, deemed not fit for T20, but what conspired on that 22 yard strip of Chinnaswamy Stadium is perhaps the best reply the ace all rounder could have given. Building an innings is considered a substratum for any batsmen, but it’s a rarity in the crash bang version and so is Kallis, a rare species of genius. He built an innings of substance and blossomed into variance.

THE MYRIAD

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE: Their first game at home was all the more important as they looked for their first win of IPL3.Boucher was in for Van De Merwe as Goswami was benched for Vinay Kumar.

KINGS XI PUNJAB: A comprehensive lose to Daredevils delineated the loopholes for the Punjab outfit, openers needed to give the firepower, though Bopara looked convincing, middle order needed to click and bowlers had to bowl with much  more conviction. Sangakarra dropped Romesh Pawar for offie Bipul Sharma.

Sangakarra won the toss elected to bat first

KINGS XI TO A ROYAL START

Bopara started of well and looked to play the sheet anchor role as both Styen and Kallis treated Manvinder Sultansingh Bisla with an array of short balls, Bisla though not at all convincing against the pacy short ones, was caught in awkward positions, edging and trying to duck, but he survived the adrenaline rush of the Bangalore bowlers. Bisla gradually made himself comfortable as he faced most of the strike in the powerplay. He edged his way to the boundaries and pulled twice of Kallis in majestic fashion, he has got his early nervousness out of the way. Bopara seemed to be content to play the second fiddle, as Bisla danced down the track hitting Kumble for an imperious long off six. He greeted Vinay kumar with another maximum. The duo amassed plenty of runs as Bangalore bowlers continually fed them length bowls.

By the end of 14^th over Punjab were 129/0 at a run rate of 9.21, 200 definitely on the cards. Bisla eventually got out and was soon followed by Yuvraj Singh. Jayawardene then stepped up his game with a wonderful cameo of 13 ball 26, innovation personified the Sri Lankan’s inning, as Bopara flourished in the final over. 204, was the target for the challengers.

GUTSY ONSET

Sangakarra hoped that his bowlers would exploit bowling under lights to make some early inroads. Sreesanth and Pathan though got the ball to swing, but they were not penetrative enough as Kallis and Manish Pandey played out the first few overs cautiously, more importantly without losing a wicket. It was infact in 5^th over Kallis walloped a half tracked from Yusuf Abdulla towards the midwicket boundary for the first six. Pandey then showed some aggression favouring the on side and taking  18 of Pathan’s over. Chawala was introduced into the attack, who bowled in a perfect rhythm reading the batsmen cleverly, resulting a Manish Pandey wicket, Pandey had  played his part with a quick fire 38 of 25.Kallis on the other hand also played some handsome strokes but rotated the strike regularly.

ROBIN’S FUROR

Robin Uthappa came to the crease, as commentator Russel Arnold described him as one of India’s underachiever, truly so, a class act seldom seen to play an innings of substance, and now here was his chance at atonement and he it grabbed with both hands, brutality prevailed as he hit Chawla for consecutive boundaries, then Abdulla for a long on six and a four, before unleashing a torrent of sixes of sreesanth, 25 from that over, tide had shifted to the Royal Challengers ancillary. Robin raced to a 19 ball 50, second fastest in IPL. He is one of the exotic breed whose brute force is as elegant as it can get.

KALLIS SEALS IT

Bipul Sharma had a good start to his IPL career picking up Uthappa in his very first over, as Kohli walked to the middle, I thought Morgan would have been a better choice, but when Virat hit a six courtesy a dropped catch by M.Kaif, the Chinnaswamy crowd roared like anything chanting RCB. Kallis impelled after a valiant knock of 62 of 48 as he hammered Bipul Sharma for 3 humungous hits towards the deep midwicket region. The game was set and duly so Kallis hit the winning runs with an over to spare, he ended up at 89 not out in 53 balls becoming the highest run getter of IPL 3 and a proud holder of orange cap.

RCB 1 _ KXIP 0

FIESTA de IPL: DAREDEVILS TAME LIONS OF PUNJAB

KINGS AND DEVILS

KINGS XI PUNJAB: Lead by Kumara Sangakkara the Mohali outfit opted for two genuine spinners for a lively pitch and included Manvinder Bisla of Haryana ahead of his more flamboyant counterpart, Karan Goel. Kings have lead the Daredevils 3 – 1 in head to head encounters in IPL.

DELHI DAREDEVILS: They could be termed as the proverbial chockers of IPL, two semifinals finishes in last two editions, Daredevils lead by new captain Gautam Gambhir would be eyeing to do one step better this season . They opted to bench explosive David Warner for an extra bowler in Farveez Mahroof, alongside speedster Dirk Nannes and young sensation Pradeep Sangwan and YO Mahesh with Amit Mishra being the only spinner.

Delhi won the toss and elected to field first.

KINGS SUCCUMB TO DEVILS PLAY

Ravi Bopara and Manvinder Bisla walked out to the middle in a hope to give their team a flying start but Dirk Nannes started of as usual with speed, swing and conviction. The first over yielded only a single and a direct hit from Mithun Manhas put Manvinder Bisla back to the hood. The opening bowlers Dirk Nannes and Mahroof extract maximum bounce and swing making batsmen’s life a misery. After a lusty blow straight over the top of bowler Mahroof, Sangakarra departed soon followed by Yuvraj and immediately superseded by Jayawerdene for a golden duck. After 7 overs scorecard reads 49/4 in favour of the Devils. Bopara on the other end played himself in negotiating the good deliveries and pouncing on the loose one with good effect. Irfan Pathan joined Bopara and scored a handy 21 of 15 before being foxed by Dilsan. Good captaincy shown by Gauti to give the ball to Dilsan who has the knack of taking wickets at crucial juncture. When Bopara was holed out in deep square leg of the bowling of Yo Mahesh, all hopes of a late flourish smoked out and in the end Kings managed to put up a decent but below par 142.

KINGS RESURGENCE, GAUTIS PURSUANCE

When Virender Sehwag is on the crease, Devils look formidable and others mere minions, but when Sehwag departs the roles are reversed and that’s what exactly Southern Sizzler Sreesanth did for Kings XI Punjab. After many months Sree looked sharp for the first time and bowled full to produce sterling out swingers. Sehwag and Dilsan out in the second over itself and Devils where in a spot of bother. Pathan and Sree exploited the new ball, and bowled superbly to put Delhi in the same position as they were while batting. The good work by the opening bowlers was carried on by Yusuf Abdulla and Piyush Chawla as they stuck to the basics giving away nothing building pressure on Gambhir and AB De Villers. The stress showed as AB went for a non existent single eventually getting run out. Dinesh Karthik came in and scratched his way to 18 balls 20 before getting caught at long off. Amidst all this ataxia, Gambhir was determined nudging the ball here and there and producing some exquisite cuts and paddle sweep to keep his team in the hunt. The veteran Mithun Manhas joined Gauti and he played excellently without any urgency rotating the strike and running hard between the wickets. The match looked like to be hanging in a balance, until Sangakarra introduced off spinner Romesh Pawar into the attack in the 14^th over as Gambhir launched his assault over the spinner, milking 16 of the over. Mithun and Gauti continued to inch closer to victory without any further fuss. The 19 over saw Pathan drop a sitter of Manhas, and when Manhas crashed one into the fence, Pathan would have thought that he had dropped the match. Gambhir assured a victory hitting the 5^th ball of the penultimate over high superbly over long off for a 6.The equation read 4 from 6, though Gauti got out for a valiant 72 of 53 Mithun Manhas and Mahroof ensured a clinical victory for the Devils.

THE REAL DEVIL

Captain Gautam Gambhir proved to the deciding factor in the match as he guided his beasts from hell to victory, a real captain’s knock this will definitely boost his morale in the coming matches both as captain and a batsmen.