IPL – Royal Challengers Bangalore versus Kochi Tuskers Kerala - Innings report
In the third match of the 2011 edition of the Indian Premier League T20 tournament, the Royal Challengers Bangalore took on the Kochi Tuskers Kerala at the Nehru Stadium, in Kochi. After winning the toss, the Kochi Tuskers elected to bat first as they looked
to set a target that would add pressure on their opponents who looked to do the opposite and restrict them.
Brendon McCullum and VVS Laxman opened the batting for the Kochi Tuskers as they took on the formidable Royal Challengers bowling attack of Zaheer Khan and Dirk Nannes.
Zaheer Khan bowled well and apart from a loose third ball which went for the game’s first boundary, he managed to trouble the batsmen. The same could not be said for Nannes as he went for two fours off the first two deliveries before McCullum smashed him
over deep midwicket for a six.
New Zealand national team captain, Daniel Vettori and Sri Lankan, Tillakaratne Dilshan bowled the next few overs but none could find a breakthrough. That is until the last delivery of the ninth over. Laxman found Pujara at deep midwicket and the fielder
made no mistake with a simple catch, but at 80 runs the opening partnership had done its job, as Mahela Jayawardene made his way to the crease.
Virat Kohli was brought into the bowling attack and had the desired effect as he sent Brendon McCullum on his way. The Kiwi batsmen played a good innings of 45 runs from 32 deliveries as he was replaced by Brain Hodge. Jayawardene’s stay, however, did not
last long as he was stumped by the Royal Challengers wicket keeper, AB de Villiers, after some intelligent bowling by Vettori.
The Challengers seemed to be gaining some momentum as the match headed into the crunch stage of the last five overs, yet, the Tuskers were still batting aggressively and had the run rate steadily climbing.
The game took another twist when Hodge was dismissed by Zaheer Khan in the 18th over before Raiphi Gomez fell four deliveries later for a golden duck. With one over left to play, the Tuskers were at 153 runs for the loss of five wickets as they
looked to add to the score with the last six balls.
Sadly, it was not as high scoring an over as the fans would have wanted as only seven runs came off it, yet, there was a boundary on the last ball of the innings that helped end the innings on an exciting note.
The Kochi Tuskers Kerala set a strong total of 161 runs in the 20 overs at a run rate of 8.05 runs per over, yet, it is not an ‘ungettable’ total by any means as the Royal Challengers Bangalore will be looking to prove in the second half of the match.
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