Bangalore's royal challenge too strong for the Deccan Chargers

The Bangalore Royal Challengers beat the Hyderabad Deccan Chargers by 3 runs to win match 21 of the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL). It was the Bangalore side’s first win at home.

Playing at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium at Bangalore, Deccan Chargers captain VVS Laxman won the toss and elected to field first. Put in to bat, the Bangalore Royal Challengers started the innings slowly but gained momentum after the fall of the first wicket. Wasim Jaffer and Virat Kohli looked in sublime touch accelerating the Royal Challengers run rate to a near eight an over.

But after Jaffer fell in the eleventh over, the home side lost momentum and it was only due to some last minute slog hitting by the captain Rahul Dravid and Mark Boucher that they reached a competitive 156/8 in their 20 overs.

RP Singh was expensive taking three wickets for 41 runs. Pragyan Ojha continued his good run in the tournament as he took 2 wickets for 28 runs. Both Hyderabad bowlers bowled their full quota of 4 overs.

Set 157 for victory, none of the big names from the visitors’ high-profile batting line-up fired. Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs and Shahid Afridi were dismissed cheaply. Laxman and Rohit Sharma were the only two batsmen who looked in form. Both batsmen scored half centuries and were involved in a 97-run partnership. However, all hope was lost when Sharma lost his wicket in the 17th over.

Zaheer Khan and Praveen Kumar then proved their mettle as good bowlers by claiming Afridi, Laxman and Scott Styris in a div of 6 balls.

Needing 20 runs off the final over, Sanjay Bangar lofted two huge sixes off Anil Kumble to raise his side’s hope for their second win in the tournament. But the big hitting came a little too late. Hyderabad once looked in control of the scoreboard with Laxman and Sharma at the crease but lost the match eventually falling short by 3 runs, handing Bangalore their second win of the IPL and losing their fifth game in the process.

Both sides have played six games in the Twenty20 tournament so far.