How do we manage to always get ourselves into crisis situations when it just seems like we are on the verge of VICTORY? Quite obviously I am referring to last evening's loss to the mighty Mumbai Indians whom we had just beaten back home not even a few days ago..I was really looking forward to this one as it was our annual GO GREEN match and we had won it last year agaisnt the Kochi Tuskers. We batted first and didn't really live up to the occasion as is usually the case with Mr.Big Man Chris Gayle. HE did hit a six though before getting bowled to Munaf Patel. Captain Kohli came and went in no time as he was run out for 3. Tiwary continues to be promoted as he walked in yet again ahead of AB at no.4 and for a change looked the part as he hit two huge sixes scoring 21 off just 16. But for the complete weirdo he is, he got out in the weirdest possible way as he hit-wicket himself playing back-foot off a ball from Mumbai skipper Harbhajan Singh. RCB IN TROUBLE YET AGAIN! AB walked in at 47 for 3 getting a 40 run brisk partnership with Dilshan before holing out to Pollard, the hero of the day off a slower ball caught by a tumbling Mallinga at mid-off. In comes Mayank at 6, a move I never agreed with as I thought he should be playing higher up and not be wasted at 6 as it is not his slot. However, he proved me wrong with some beautiful stroke-hitting al over the park as Mayank Aggarwal came into his own finally, reminding me of our former hard-hitter Robin Uthappa. A 46-run partnership with Dilshan before he perished to RP singh looking to hit a full-toss through the off-side but it uproots the off-stump! Vinay Kumar came and went as he just doesn't seem to prove himself as an all-rounder as he is so often called. RUN OUT it was RCB at 134 for 6.Now time for the Aggarwal blitzkrieg as he got a 4 and a 6 off the 19th over from Malinga. But it was the 20th over from Munaf Patel which made the difference as Mayank went beserk! First ball full-toss six straight over long-off. Second ball 4 through point and third ball another 4 wide off long-off! Was it rubbish stuff from Patel or brilliant batting from Mayank?5th ball was an AB-like shot over deep mid-wicket for 6! Mayank had done it for us on a day when all others couldn't. Now the turn of the bowlers to finish the job for RCB and what do we do?Make a mess of it!
The Mumbai Indians innings had a last year's 1-2 place play-off qualifier feel to it where RCB had it all under their belt until the 10th over or so after which some unbelievable batting by Raina and co. led them to a victory into the IPL 2011 final, a huge morale booster for them as we again lost to them in the final, this time much more comprehensively. We bowled beautifully in the first 10 overs as we had them at 19 for 3 and then 51 for 5. All the big guns including the Tendulkars and the Sharmas were out not to forget the in-form Dwayne Smith. Rayudu and Pollard were at the crease and I had a terrible feeling that they had it in them to take their team home from the hopeless situation they were in and they proved me right! There was of course the floodlight failure after the 11th over and that was the time if they game had been called off would have gone in favour of RCB as commmentator Danny Morrison said. Back they did come and so did the Mumbai Indians!Some unbelievable hitting by both Rayudu and Pollard saw them home as Gayle bowled the last over but failed to contain as he proved that he was a match-winner only with the bat and not with the ball though somewhere deep inside I thought he could pull it off but it was the day that belonged to Rayudu and Pollard as they pulled off a miraculous win!
Now where does this leave team RCB?I was doing the calculations and figured that we have to now depend on teams like KXIP and RR and CSK losing their remaing games if we were to go through as they are almost on the same points as us. With this win I believe MI will go through as it is now the battle for the 4th place between the remaining 4 teams. RCB would have to win both it's remaining games and then hope that CSK loses as they have a better run-rate than us. As to the other two teams we will have to wait and watch how they do as Kings XI could be the dark horse here because they have 3 more games left and if they win all 3 they will leave both CSK and RCB behind who can now get a maximum of only 19 points. Let's hope Kings XI lose today :D The big match however will be between KXIP and CSK two days later at Dharamsala as the team which wins here will eliminate the other! VERY INTERESTING INDEED MAY THE BEST TEAM GO THROUGH CHEERS RCB!!!
The Mumbai Indians innings had a last year's 1-2 place play-off qualifier feel to it where RCB had it all under their belt until the 10th over or so after which some unbelievable batting by Raina and co. led them to a victory into the IPL 2011 final, a huge morale booster for them as we again lost to them in the final, this time much more comprehensively. We bowled beautifully in the first 10 overs as we had them at 19 for 3 and then 51 for 5. All the big guns including the Tendulkars and the Sharmas were out not to forget the in-form Dwayne Smith. Rayudu and Pollard were at the crease and I had a terrible feeling that they had it in them to take their team home from the hopeless situation they were in and they proved me right! There was of course the floodlight failure after the 11th over and that was the time if they game had been called off would have gone in favour of RCB as commmentator Danny Morrison said. Back they did come and so did the Mumbai Indians!Some unbelievable hitting by both Rayudu and Pollard saw them home as Gayle bowled the last over but failed to contain as he proved that he was a match-winner only with the bat and not with the ball though somewhere deep inside I thought he could pull it off but it was the day that belonged to Rayudu and Pollard as they pulled off a miraculous win!
Now where does this leave team RCB?I was doing the calculations and figured that we have to now depend on teams like KXIP and RR and CSK losing their remaing games if we were to go through as they are almost on the same points as us. With this win I believe MI will go through as it is now the battle for the 4th place between the remaining 4 teams. RCB would have to win both it's remaining games and then hope that CSK loses as they have a better run-rate than us. As to the other two teams we will have to wait and watch how they do as Kings XI could be the dark horse here because they have 3 more games left and if they win all 3 they will leave both CSK and RCB behind who can now get a maximum of only 19 points. Let's hope Kings XI lose today :D The big match however will be between KXIP and CSK two days later at Dharamsala as the team which wins here will eliminate the other! VERY INTERESTING INDEED MAY THE BEST TEAM GO THROUGH CHEERS RCB!!!
