Chasing 140 for their first silverware, RCB were bowled out for 108 in the final over on a slow track.
Prior to the start of the Champions League Twenty20, Mumbai Indians were struggling to field a ‘Healthy XI’. Two weeks on, they have a trophy in the cupboard! Harbhajan Singh & Co, who were denied the services of Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma and Munaf Patel among others, defeated favourites Royal Challengers Bangalore by 31 runs in Chennai on Sunday to win the third edition of the Champions League Twenty20.
Chasing 140 for their first silverware, RCB were bowled out for 108 in the final over on a slow track. Harbhajan (3/20), Lasith Malinga (2/23) and Abu Nechim (2/26) kept the batsmen on a tight leash throughout the innings. Tillakaratne Dilshan (27) was the top-scorer was RCB. As many as seven batsmen, including Chris Gayle, failed to cross double digits.
Earlier, Harbhajan Singh opted to bat on a difficult track and none of his top-order batsmen found strokemaking easy. Daniel Vettori’s left-arm spin and Raju Bhatkal’s seam-up stuff kept the batsmen quiet. Dirk Nannes had bowled a brilliant opening spell. He had wonderful figures of 1/14.
Vettori’s countrymate, James Franklin, scored a useful 41 to give MI’s total a semblance of respectability. Ambati Rayudu (21) and Franklin added 41 runs for the third wicket in 5.1 overs before the former holed out to Chris Gayle at extra cover off Raju Bhatkal.
Suryakumar Yadav (24) looked fluent during his brief stay at the wicket as he hit Vettori for a six and four. However, the RCB skipper showed smart reflexes as he ran out the youngster who’d backed up too far. Kieron Pollard, R Sathish and Harbhajan Singh were out cheaply.
Scorecard
Mumbai Indians: A Blizzard run out (Aravind) 3, S Kanwar b Nannes 13, A Rayudu c Gayle b Bhatkal 22, J Franklin run out (Agarwal) 41, S Yadav run out (Vettori) 24, K Pollard c Kohli b Vettori 2, R Sathish c Agarwal b Bhatkal 9, Harbhajan Singh lbw b Vettori 0, L Malinga c Aravind b Bhatkal 16, A Ahmed not out 2, Y Chahal c Gayle b Aravind 2; Extras: (1LB, 4W) 5
Total: (all out; 20 overs) 139
FoW: 1-10, 2-24, 3-65, 4-105,
5-108, 6-109, 7-109, 8-135, 9-135
Bowling: T Dilshan 4-0-34-0,
D Nannes 4-0-14-1, S Aravind
4-0-33-1, D Vettori 4-0-30-2, R Bhatkal 3-0-21-3, C Gayle 1-0-6-0
Royal Challengers Bangalore: T Dilshan b Malinga 27, C Gayle lbw b Harbhajan 5, V Kohli c Blizzard b Harbhajan 11, M Agarwal c Pollard b Chahal 14, S Tiwary c Harbhajan b Ahmed 17, KB Arun Karthik c Pollard b Chahal 0, M Kaif c Kanwar b Pollard 3, D Vettori st Rayudu b Harbhajan 1, R Bhatkal c Sathish b Ahmed 6, S Aravind b Malinga 4, D Nannes not out 0; Extras: (4B, 1LB, 14W, 1NB) 20
Total: (all out; 19.2 overs) 108
Fall of Wickets: 1-38, 2-42, 3-67, 4-73, 5-74, 6-81, 7-92, 8-98, 9-108, 10-108
Bowling: L Malinga 4-0-23-2,
A Ahmed 3.2-0-26-2, Harbhajan 4-0-20-3, K Pollard 4-0-21-1, YS Chahal 3-0-9-2, J Franklin 1-0-4-0
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