Mumbai Indians end their dream run with title

Mumbai Indians 139 (Franklin 41, Bhatkal 3-21, Vettori 2-30) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 108 (Dilshan 27, Harbhajan 3-20, Chahal 2-9, Malinga 2-23) beat by 31 runs

	Harbhajan Singh got the key wicket of Chris Gayle© Associated Press

On a night of mediocre cricket, Mumbai Indians kept their surprise run going to win the biggest prize, in financial terms, in non-international cricket. James Franklin was the only man to keep his head in a suicidal Mumbai Innings, which helped them reach 139, but the Royal Challengers Bangalore once again choked in a big final to lose despite a start of 38 for 0 in four overs. For the vanquished this was a painful repeat of their IPL final in Johannesburg where they froze while chasing 144. The victors, though, can claim they once again won the big moments: through Franklin's sober innings, through Lasith Malinga's two sixes amid a collapse, and through an extra over given to Malinga that produced a wicket, which started the turnaround.

Be that as it may, for a majority of the match the teams seemed to be in a contest for ordinary cricket. There were three run-outs, there were unsavoury slogs resulting in exposed stumps, the winning side bowled 10 out of a total of 13 wides, and Mumbai Indians' keeper kept letting through byes. If Franklin's smart 41 off 29 suggested he was the only sober man in a Paris Hilton party, the Royal Challengers clearly outdid their opponents for rashness. Yes the pitch was slow and it took turn, but no amount of slowness and turn could justify their bizarre and spectacular collapse, which featured minimal attempts to take singles with the asking-rate around seven an over.

MI didn't even know there was turn in the pitch for them. As Dilshan hit the ground running in the chase, they made a necessary departure from their usual ways of bowling Malinga for only two overs at the top. Dilshan's 27 until then had come off shots either through the line or through the covers, and he would have known how desperately MI would have wanted a wicket off what then seemed like a last roll of the dice. As it turned out, he swung across the line of a full first delivery, losing his off stump.

Kumar Dharmasena then made a potentially match-turning call. He had already got two lbw calls wrong in MI's innings, first reprieving Harbhajan Singh when he was plumb, then ruling him out when he wasn't. But his most consequential mistake was during the chase and again involved Harbhajan, who fired in quick offbreaks in his first over. The last ball of the over, in which he had conceded just a wide, was tossed up, and Chris Gayle got a big stride in. The offbreak didn't turn as much as expected, hit him in front of off, and he was ruled out. The ball had a massive distance to travel, and the ball-tracking predicted it would have hit the outside of off stump. Conventional wisdom would have ruled it in the batsman's favour, and even Gayle lost his cool when he saw the finger come up.

With an unreliable batting order, pampered by the true Bangalore surface and short boundaries, to follow, it was down to the only survivor of the Royal Challengers' 2009 choke, Virat Kohli, to shepherd the rest through. However, he found himself batting with a trigger-happy Mayank Agarwal, who despite all his attempts at power hitting managed 14 off 19 before holing out to long-off. Even when the desperate Agarwal got out, the Royal Challengers needed a manageable 73 off 57.

Kohli felt the pinch too. Perhaps it was the presence of Malinga in the end, perhaps it was just the shock of having to work hard for the runs after Bangalore, but even he didn't show the willingness to take the game to the deep end. In the next over he holed out to deep midwicket. Everybody knew it was game over there and then.

The rest were just a blurry procession of catching and stumping practice. A complete contrast to how Franklin managed a strike-rate of close to 150 without a shot hit in anger. There was no dearth of madness around him either. Sarul Kanwar first ran Aiden Bliazzard out before slogging around a full delivery. Ambati Rayudu struggled to find singles in the middle, and a positive 40-run stand with Suryakumar Yadav ended with a run-out.

Franklin soon caught on with the times, stopping and running in his second to complete the third run-out. Kieron Pollard's massive leading edge travelled as far as long-off, and MI were in a tailspin after looking good for a repeat of their 160 from the semi-final. Although it didn't look enough at the moment, Malinga's two sixes in the end turned out to be surplus. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Mumbai Indians win big moments and the semi-final

Mumbai Indians 160 for 5 (Blizzard 54, Sathish 25*) beat Somerset 150 for 7 (Kieswetter 62, Hildreth 39, Malinga 4-20, Franklin 2-16) by 10 runs

Suryakumar Yadav was impressive on his return from injury © Associated Press

Mumbai Indians refuse to go away. Missing half their side, struggling to put an XI on the field, courting controversy every step of the way, they have still managed to win most of the big moments they have encountered to make it to the final of the Champions League.

MI won all the decisive moments of the night. They ran away at the top through Aiden Blizzard's 54 off 39. They scored 52 off their last five, after the middle overs slowed them down, through a 43-run stand off 22 between the unheralded R Sathish and Suryakumar Yadav. Lasith Malinga then took out Somerset's two biggest batsmen of the tournament with devilish yorkers and changes of pace. And when Craig Kieswetter threatened to mastermind a cool chase, with the MI fielders blundering all around him, Malinga and James Franklin defended - just as coolly - 28 runs in the last three overs.

MI chose a fine time to put up their best batting effort of the tournament. On a pitch that was slow but much better than the mud-wrestling arena it had been in the earlier stages of the tournament, Blizzard did what their opponents have been doing: capitalise with the hard new ball. He enjoyed the pace on it, and tried to make use of all quick length balls. Adam Dibble came on and took the pace off with his cutters, but Blizzard was quick to spot whenever he bowled quick. Off the 20 runs that Dibble conceded in his four overs, Blizzard took 10 in two hits, both off quick and full deliveries. One of his other sixes came off a free hit, but that was about all the luck he enjoyed.

Somerset's left-arm spinners, though, pulled things back with the wickets of both the threatening men, Blizzard and Franklin. Blizzard had in particular been frustrated, with only 20 coming off the last 18 balls he faced. With MI 92 for 4 in the 13th over, it seemed it was all about Pollard. It couldn't have seemed more wrong. After Pollard flattered and deceived, Sathish and Yadav gave MI a target to bowl at.

The two men don't enjoy what can be termed a flattering history with the IPL side. It has often been said that Sathish wouldn't even make the side but for the injuries. One of those "injured" players was Yadav, whose injury had allowed MI five overseas players but whose subsequent playing for other teams had brought MI embarrassment. Now back ahead of the unimpressive Andrew Symonds, he put together a busy partnership with Sathish. Yadav tried the adventurous shots behind the stumps, and Sathish was more orthodox trying to drive down the ground, but it somehow worked a treat for them.

Whatever you say of the pitch, it doesn't matter to Malinga. Somerset have usually won games by hitting the new ball hard, and Peter Trego and Roelof van der Merwe have been the main destroyers at the top. Both of them fell to the genius of Malinga before they could make a contribution. A late outswinging yorker at the base of the off stump accounted for Trego, and a bewitching slower full toss that dipped on van der Merwe reduced Somerset to 17 for 2 after three overs.

Somerset refused to capitulate. Kieswetter played like a man who knew he would win the match if he took it deep. He was soon on that route, helped by the average fielding. He was missed on 31 and 50, and MI's part-time keeper Ambati Rayudu seemed to miss more than he collected. Kieswetter began the acceleration even as his associate James Hildreth fell with 61 left to score off 39.

Kieswetter knocked it around until it was 45 needed off four overs, two of which would be bowled by Malinga. He then took Abu Nechim Ahmed on and brought it down to 29 off three. Malinga now had to bowl two of the last three. No question of change of ends or plans if things went wrong. Perish the thought. Malinga responded with a seven-run over.

The over of the devil in this tournament, the 19th, was the event of the match. First off, Harbhajan Singh gambled by not only giving the ball to Franklin ahead of himself and Pollard, but also risked potential criticism that he was not prepared to bowl the big over himself. Harbhajan went with brain over heart, and Franklin responded too. The first ball was drilled wide of long-on. Only Pollard could have kept it from going for four. He did. The next ball was a sure four until it hit Kieswetter flush on, giving him no time to react and get out of the way. Jos Buttler would have thought he deserved eight off those two balls; he got two. Frustrated, he played the blind slog. Bowled.

Finally Kieswetter came back on strike to the fifth ball of the over. He had faced only six deliveries out of the last 27, batting with a man who went at a strike-rate of under 100. Now with 19 required off eight, six of which would be bowled by Malinga, Kieswetter had no choice. He went after this short-of-a-length ball, and top-edged. Game over. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

'The best T20 match of my life' - Kohli

One of the allures of the Champions League Twenty20 is the chance it gives for the little guy on the big stage. None of the obscure domestic cricketers grabbed the opportunity as dramatically as 25-year-old Arun Karthik. He thwacked the final ball of the match over midwicket to conjure a preposterous win, which took Royal Challengers Bangalore through to the semi-finals, and set off on a memorable chest-thumping celebration. That will be the abiding image of Royal Challengers' victory over South Australia, and perhaps of the league phase of the CLT20.

There was another moment to define the game though. It was in the 13th over of the chase, in the middle of an audacious counterattack by Virat Kohliand Tillakaratne Dilshan. Kohli punched the air angrily after drilling a full toss to long-off for a single. After completing the run, he chastised himself and practised the off-drive again. Annoyance at missing out on a hit-me ball is one thing, but Kohli had missed out on the fourth ball of the over after striking the first three for six, six and four. It was that sort of a match, where no amount of runs seemed enough.

Kohli had played a couple of blinders for the Royal Challengers in the CLT20 last year, and was second only to Chris Gayle in amassing runs in the IPL this season, but this 36-ball 70 ranks as his finest Twenty20 innings. There were several challenges to deal with in this high-pressure must-win game: no IPL team had ever beaten an Australian side in the CLT20, only a handful of times had a target in excess of 200 been successfully hunted down, and finally Gayle, the man whose form has closely mirrored that of the Royal Challengers this year, had been dismissed relatively cheaply.

After Gayle and Dilshan had provided the initial thrust, Kohli came out and utterly dominated the high-octane century stand with Dilshan, which kept the chase on course. Of the first 74 runs of the partnership, Kohli's contribution was 61, a big chunk of which came off his favourite Twenty20 stroke - the inside-out lofted drive in the arc stretching from long-off to deep extra cover. There were dabs past third man for four, hard-run twos after tucking the ball softly towards the deep, and no ugly across-the-line heaves were attempted.

	Virat Kohli made a vital 70 from 36 balls © Associated Press

By the time Kohli was dismissed, the pair had taken Royal Challengers to 165 for 2, with an eminently gettable 50 needed off the final five overs. "We were pumped up, to want to play like me and Dilshan did, you need some sort of adrenaline," Kohli at the post-match press conference, with the sound of the Royal Challengers celebrating still being heard. "I was really excited since we were hitting the sixes at the right time and probably the best T20 match of my life."

Still to complete the job after Kohli's dismissal, Royal Challengers needed some amazing hits and most of their batsmen delivered. Saurabh Tiwary bludgeoned Tait for a 99-metre six over long-on, Mayank Agarwal pummelled his first ball over the extra-cover boundary, Daniel Vettori flicked one way beyond midwicket, and S Aravind played an immensely courageous scoop in the final over for four. Despite all that, it came down to nine off three balls, at which stage Kohli says he lost hope.

"I didn't (think we could win)," he said. "I was sitting with the coach and we needed seven off two, and I told him, 'coach if we get four off this ball, and two off the last ball, just run, I think we are going to make it,' when we got a single, I just closed my eyes, and said coach whatever happens, happens."

Then came Karthik's moment of magic, and the crowd went berserk. The Royal Challengers were also delirious, mobbing Karthik, who couldn't stop bouncing up and down after the match-sealing six. Kohli, an animated presence in the dug-out since his dismissal, charged out and was the first to pluck some stumps as souvenirs. "None of us can still believe that, especially since it was a quarter-final for us, to be able to play like that was a team's delight, a coach's delight, a player's delight, all in all a wonderful experience."

Royal Challengers may have emphatically proven they can win without Gayle turning in a headlining performance, but their shoddy fielding and toothless bowling remain a cause for worry. For their fans and the team, those concerns can wait for another day as they savoured a famous win. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Last-ball six takes RCB into semis

Royal Challengers Bangalore 215 for 8 (Dilshan 74, Kohli 70, Tait 5-32) beat South Australia Redbacks214 for 2 (Harris 108*, Ferguson 70) by two wickets

	Virat Kohli, who played a key role in RCB's chase, celebrates an extraordinary finish © Associated Press

Arun Karthik produced the six most important runs of his 15-match Twenty20 career off the last ball of the CLT20 league phase to propel Royal Challengers Bangalore past South Australia Redbacks in a game that had everything except for a Super-Over finish. It featured an astonishing century from Daniel Harris - only the third in Champions League history. It had a five-for from Shaun Tait, in a game where 429 runs came off 40 overs. It also featured sublime stroke play from Virat Kohli, who played his best T20 innings. It had strong helping hands from Callum Ferguson and Tillakaratne Dilshan.

It all boiled down to the last ball, off which six were needed, and Karthik stepped up to smash Daniel Christian into the stands beyond midwicket. The crowd went up as one, the RCB dug-out exploded in joy, and even the usually laidback Chris Gayle walked out shirtless with a broad smile.

In a game that unfolded like a Hitchcock whodunit, it was fitting that the winning blow came off the bat of someone who was playing only because AB de Villiers was injured. At the other end was S Aravind, the worst bowler of the day, who got close to redemption with a boundary off the third ball of that electric final over. Christian bowled a slower ball on the fourth, which Aravind slogged for two, making it seven needed off the last two. Aravind couldn't connect with the fifth, but the batsmen scrambled through for a bye. Six needed off one, and Christian delivered a slower ball as hittable as Chetan Sharma's infamous full toss to Javed Miandad in Sharjah. Karthik coolly stayed in his crease and heaved with all his might over midwicket to become a hero.

It was heartbreak for the Redbacks, who had somehow regrouped after a virtually unstoppable 100-run stand between Kohli and Dilshan off 8.5 overs. By the time Kohli fell, he had reduced the equation to 50 off the last five overs, but RCB's light-weight middle order gave the Redbacks a chance. Nathan Lyon piled on the pressure with a four-run 16th over, but Tait ceded the advantage with two sixes in the 17th, though he managed to dismiss Saurabh Tiwary. The next over from Aaron O'Brien also produced two sixes and a wicket, making it 18 required off 12 balls. Tait then lasered Dilshan's stumps with a stunning yorker and got Daniel Vettori to miscue, before completing his five-for with Raju Bhatkal's wicket. That set up the last-over climax, Christian blinked after five balls, and Karthik held his nerve to complete the first win for an IPL side against an Australian team.

The performances from Tait and Karthik dominated the ending, but the contest got its substance from Harris and Kohli. Both produced innings that had no business featuring in an unabashed exhibition for T20 batting. Harris' effort stood out for the shots he didn't play - he went almost 18 overs without trying to hit a six, and yet coasted to a century with time to spare. Kohli's was elevated by the shots he chose to play. Faced with an asking-rate nearing 11, and with Gayle dismissed, Kohli unfurled a series of astonishingly correct strokes.

Equally telling were the chalk-and-cheese support acts from Ferguson and Dilshan. With the spinners pulling things back after Harris' Powerplay boundary blitz, Ferguson took his time settling in before opening up in style. Dilshan, on the other hand, ignited RCB's chase with a series of outrageous strokes, which included a couple of trademark scoops.

Gayle was more subdued at the start, but he gradually found his range to muscle three sixes, before Michael Klinger caught him in the deep even as he collided grievously with Tom Cooper. Kohli walked in like he belonged in the cauldron, and opened his account with a pulled six through wide long-on. The slowness of the pitch and the variations of the Redbacks attack could not stop him from hitting through the line, and repeatedly in front of the wicket. He charged out to O'Brien and launched him with the turn over long-off, before carving Richardson for the shot of the day - an inside-out six into the stands behind extra-cover. He then gave Harris a taste of his own medicine, taking him for two sixes and three fours in the 13th over to put RCB on course for a heist.

The script was completely different in the first half of the match as, for the second night on the trot, an IPL side took a hiding from an Australian batsman. Aravind's pathetic lengths made this considerably easy - he finished with figures of 4-0-69-0, the second worst in T20 history - but that could not take any credit away from Harris.

The floodgates opened in the second over, when Aravind sent down a series of slow freebies angled into the hitting zone. Harris gratefully opened up his stance and carved boundaries straight, square and fine through the off side to set the Redbacks on their way. Kohli missed a run-out in the next over, and Harris celebrated by smashing seven of his next eight balls for fours. Vettori daringly persisted with Aravind for the fourth over, only to see him repeat his predictable lengths from either side of the stumps. Harris indulged himself to move to 43 off 19 balls by the fourth over, and Vettori was left playing catch-up for the remaining 16.

With the spinners coming on, Harris settled into cruise-mode, while Ferguson assuredly got his eye in. Just when the momentum seemed to be flagging a touch Aravind returned, and the Redbacks resumed their run-glut. Having taken two fours and a six off Aravind's 16th over, Ferguson thumped Nannes emphatically for a six off the first ball off the 17th. He holed out in the 18th over, prompting Harris to finally attempt a big hit. He pounded Bhatkal over midwicket for his first six, before dumping Nannes behind square-leg to bring up the century. Incredibly, Aravind got the 20th over, and Christian duly bludgeoned five more fours to take the Redbacks to 214. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Warner-led NSW crush CSK en route to semi-final

New South Wales 201 for 2 (Warner 135*, Steven Smith 31) beat Chennai Super Kings 155 (Hussey 37, O'Keefe 3-28) by 46 runs

	File photo: David Warner has the highest-score in any edition of the Champions League T20 © Getty Images

David Warner shook the Chepauk pitch out of its death-like slumber through a mix of clean straight hitting, including a six out of the stadium, and audacious switch-hits, one of them a pull for six over extra cover. On a square on which 135 has often looked like a winning total, Warner alone scored 135 off 69, the highest individual score in Champions league history, his second Twenty20 century, and considering the slow-and-low conditions one of the best T20 centuries. In the process he took New South Wales to the top of Group A, and through to the semi-final.

There was brute hitting involved, but that was only the latter part of the systemic dismantling of the Chennai Super Kings, who too had a chance of making it to the next round at the start of the match. That, though, was only until Warner started bringing the Super Kings down to their knees. After that all they could do was watch befuddled, and perhaps admire. They sure did beeline for Warner, to shake his hand once he was done.

They were not sure which hand to shake, though, for Warner frequently switched hands to bat like a right-hand batsman. With the "other" hand, he scored 22 off six balls. Only once did he miss. At the receiving end of three of those hits was R Ashwin, the Super Kings' ace and one of the best IPL bowlers. The other ace that Warner trumped was his New South Wales state team-mate Doug Bollinger, who went for 48 in his three overs.

With attack the only option left for the Super Kings in their chase, Michael Hussey and Suresh Raina scored 65 off 41 balls between them, but once the wickets started falling, the slowness of the track reappeared, and batting didn't quite look that easy. The Super Kings needed to win in 17 overs to qualify for the semi-final, but that just seemed to mock the defending champions.

Their destruction, though, began with Shane Watson who hit Bollinger for three fours in the second over of the innings. He was not in full control, but it forced the Super Kings to introduce Ashwin in the third over. A Murali-Pietersen moment was about to arrive. Warner changed his stance to the fifth ball from the spinner, switched the grip, got under the ball, and went over what was cover for his original stance. In Ashwin's next over Warner repeated the dose, and at 41 for 0 after five overs the Super Kings didn't seem to have any answers.

Ashwin came back to dismiss Watson for 21 off 19 with a carrom ball, but the Super Kings never recovered. NSW promoted last match's hero Steven Smith, and he and Warner pushed the fielders with canny placement and aggressive running in the initial stages of the innings. Shadab Jakati dropped Warner off the last ball of the 10th over. That was cue enough for Warner to launch from 73 for 1.

Warner was 40 off 29 then, and scored 95 off his last 40. The second assault, too, began with a switch hit. Raina was at the receiving end this time. The coup de grace, though, was even more brutal. Bollinger came back in the 13th over, and met a lovely straight drive for a six and a short-arm pull for four. Warner stood steady in the crease, and swung at whatever length Bollinger bowled.

Jakati's flat non-turners were fair game for some smashing, and he duly went for 15 runs in the 14th. Warner waited for Raina to fire them in in the 15th, and lofted him for a four and six too. Ashwin came back to take his punishment, to be switch-pulled for a six. Well and truly rattled, the Super Kings began misfielding all over the place.

Some more punishment remained, though. This time for Dwayne Bravo, the only man with respectable figures of 3-0-19-0, including a drop off his bowling. As with Bollinger, Warner stayed still with Bravo too. The full balls went for two straight sixes. Almost forgotten was as big a six that Moises Henriques hit. Almost forgotten was that Steven Smith played a handy innings of 31 off 29, keeping Warner on strike as much as possible.

The night, though, was about Warner. He would go on to switch-hit Bravo for a four past what was originally mid-off. For the photo album he would launch Bollinger onto the roof and out of the stadium, and watch in admiration, shielding his eyes with his hand, the way you would when watching a plane in mid-afternoon. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Washout after Mumbai make 176

Match abandoned Mumbai Indians 176 for 5 (Pollard 58, Kanwar 45) v Cape Cobras

	Sarul Kanwar made a splash in his first game for Mumbai Indians © Associated Press

Two men at different ends of the Twenty20 spectrum powered Mumbai Indians to their best batting performance in the tournament after which heavy rain wiped out the match. One of the biggest names in the format, Kieron Pollard, and a debutant, Sarul Kanwar, went on a six-hitting spree as Mumbai put up a strong 176 against Cape Cobras.

Aiden Blizzard was expected to be the fire starter at the top of the order for Mumbai, instead it was the little known Kanwar who provided the pyrotechnics. Kanwar, a 23-year-old Punjab opener with only one season of domestic cricket behind him, showed no fear in his first big game, clouting the Cobras fast bowlers.

The first shot to make people sit up was a clean swing that sent Charl Langeveldt over the midwicket boundary in the second over. Langeveldt was taken for a four and a six square on the leg side in his next over, and JP Duminy disappeared for 17 in the fifth, before Kanwar showed he can hit straight as well by thumping Vernon Philander over long-off. After five sixes and three fours, he nearly got to his half-century with a stylish hit over deep extra cover but the shot lacked a few yards and was caught.

Kanwar's effort solved Mumbai's headache at the top of the order, and they will also be pleased with the return to form of one of their middle-order stars, Pollard. With Blizzard and Ambati Rayudu falling soon after Kanwar, Mumbai were in danger of losing their way before Pollard intervened. He warmed up with two monstrous straight sixes off JP Duminy, before backing it up with a couple of fours behind square leg. James Franklin joined in by launching Robin Peterson for two more sixes. By the time Pollard completed Langeveldt's horror day by scoring 18 in the 16th over, Mumbai had surged to 143 for 3.

Cobras managed to pull it back a bit in the final overs, with Justin Kemp giving away only two runs in the 17th, but some more boundaries from Andrew Symonds pushed Mumbai to 176. Even as the Mumbai innings wound to an end, the rains arrived and stayed for several hours, forcing the team to split points. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Kallis and Gambhir keep Knight Riders alive

Kolkata Knight Riders 171 for 1 (Kallis 64*, Gambhir 55*) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 169 for 9 (Vettori 44, Bhatkal 25) by nine wickets

	Daniel Vettori rescued Royal Challengers Bangalore after the top order had failed © Associated Press

Kolkata Knight Riders bounced back to inflict a comprehensive defeat on Royal Challengers Bangalore to keep their own hopes alive in this tournament while making survival difficult for their opponents. A delightful cameo from the home captain Daniel Vettori seemed to have set up a close encounter, but the Knight Riders dominated the chase, reminding the Royal Challengers of what they should have done with the bat on a good pitch instead of leaving the lower order with the task of putting up a fight. Brad Haddin, replacing Shakib Al Hasan, did full justice to his role by delivering a flier at the start while the ever-so-reliable Jacques Kallis anchored the reply with support from Gautam Gambhir.

The Knight Riders were left angered and frustrated by Vettori's crafty batsmanship at the death in the Royal Challengers' innings, but didn't let that affect them in the chase. A spate of misfields and fumbles drew ire from Gambhir, but the batting was calm yet clinical in its approach. Haddin gave the initial push by stepping up in the second over of the chase, smacking the left-arm seamer S Aravind, who's won a call-up to the Indian squad for the ODIs against England, for three consecutive fours as the bowler struggled with his line.

Haddin's approach came with risks, and there was the seemingly inevitable miscue but it wasn't mindless aggression. He used his feet well against spin, charging out to J Syed Mohammad and dispatching him over long-on, and waiting patiently for Vettori to slip in a bad ball - and he did - before punishing it past point. He was unforgiving against a clutter of length deliveries from a struggling Aravind, carving them for sixes over midwicket and the bowler's head, interspersed by a slog for a four. When he fell with the score on 62 in the eighth over, the platform had been laid.

The consolidation, as the rest of the chase, seemed meticulously planned. Kallis ceded floor to Gambhir, as he had done to Haddin after launching a six over long-on early in the innings, and the Knight Riders captain played his role superbly. The Royal Challengers had faltered in the field in their previous defeat, and a half-chance that went down was perhaps the one big opportunity they had of a comeback. Saurabh Tiwary failed to latch on to a catch from Gambhir at the long-off boundary, lost his balance and crashed into his coach in the dugout. Gambhir was on 2 then, his only blip.

As the field spread out, the singles were on offer aplenty and the pair rotated the strike comfortably, the required rate in control all through. The timely bursts were provided by Gambhir, who hammered Syed to the straight boundary and past point and clipping an off-the-mark Dirk Nannes past short fine. The Royal Challengers didn't help their cause by doling out extra runs, either by way of overthrows or wides. Nannes was singled out for punishment in the final surge, Kallis reaching his fifty albeit with a streaky bottom edge while Gambhir scarred him with massive sixes over long-on and square leg. That over, the 16th, fetched 24, the win was complete shortly after and a team staring at the possibility of elimination ensured no other team in the group rests easy for the remainder of the league stage.

A spirited performance from the Knight Riders bowlers helped them have the advantage for 14 overs of the hosts' innings, the early assault from Chris Gayle being the only highlight with the bat until then. But Kallis' stirring reply after being hit for six - a yorker that knocked out leg stump - backed up by Brett Lee's extra bounce that dislodged Virat Kohli, made up for the early damage. The Royal Challengers didn't make use of their line-up's depth efficiently, losing wickets after their batsmen got partnerships going, holing out needlessly while an uncharacteristically quiet Tilakaratne Dilshan was stumped smartly by Haddin. With his sly shuffles to the off and the use of those powerful wrists, Vettori, amid company from Syed and Raju Bhatkal, sparked a recovery that left the hosts with the momentum at the end of the innings. It wasn't with them for long. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Bravo blasts Chennai Super Kings to victory

Chennai Super Kings 146 for 6 (Bravo 45*, Duminy 4-20) beat Cape Cobras 145 for 7 (Shah 45, Bravo 2-23) by four wickets

Chennai Super Kings got their title defence back on track with a chase that covered the spectrum from blue to yellow and all the colours in between against Cape Cobras. Michael Hussey got the pursuit of 146 off to a positive start, but JP Duminy wrested the advantage and put the Cape Cobras in the pound seat. MS Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo's 43-run partnership helped Chennai recover but Vernon Philander dismissed Dhoni to give the Cobras another sniff. Then, Bravo made a mockery of Dale Steyn, scoring 17 runs off his last over, the 19th of the innings, to paint the Chidamabaram Stadium in the colour of the home team.

Ferguson blasts South Australia to victory

South Australia 188 for 5 (Ferguson 70*, Christian 42) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 169 for 9 (Tiwary 40, Putland 3-31, Harris 3-42) by 19 runs

	Kane Richardson celebrates after bowling Manvinder Bisla© AFP

Callum Ferguson's transformation, from a batsman who was struggling to find gaps in the field to a big-hitting finisher, helped South Australia earn their first points of the tournament and heal their damaged net run-rate to a certain extent. Ferguson turned the innings against Kolkata Knight Riders around in a single over and then helped ransack 94 off the last six to set up a match-winning 188 on a slow pitch.

The Knight Riders' 19-run defeat was their second loss in as many matches and a severe blow to their chances of progressing from their five-team group. Their chase was hampered by frequent wickets at one end and the lack of strike to Jacques Kallis at the other. The game was up when Yusuf Pathan fell, with the score on 102 for 5 after 14.1 overs, and all Ryan ten Doeschate and the tail could do was narrow the margin of defeat, which looked like being much larger until 59 runs came off the last four overs.

For 15 overs South Australia batted with bluster without being too effective. They slogged, often across the line, and tried to hit everything a bit too hard to reach 94 for 3. Then Ferguson found his fluency, and the boundaries, and added 84 runs with Daniel Christian in 7.2 overs, which changed everything.

Ferguson was dropped on 18 in the 13th over, bowled by Yusuf. He had lofted towards long-on, and Kallis ran in too fast, lost sight of the ball, and nearly got hit on the head as it went past him for four. It was Ferguson's first boundary, coming off his 22nd ball. They came quickly and in abundance after that.

In Yusuf's next over, Ferguson lofted to the straight boundary twice, once for four, once for six. He also pulled with power and paddled delicately, finding the spaces that had eluded him earlier. South Australia scored 20 runs off that over. The acceleration had begun.

The Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Uppal is Christian's home ground when he plays for Deccan Chargers in the IPL and he too lit it up. In the 16th over, Christian hit his first boundaries, pulling Iqbal Abdulla to midwicket and sweeping over square leg. He brought up the 50 partnership with Ferguson off 29 balls.

For an over or two Ferguson rode in Christian's slipstream, as the allrounder dismantled the Kinght Riders attack, using force to clear the long-on boundary and deft touch when placing towards fine leg. Christian raced to 42 off 26 balls before holing out to mid-off. Ferguson then ensured a strong finish, pulling Lee into the second tier at midwicket and ending the innings with a massive blow over long-on. Ferguson ended on 70 off 40 balls.

Ferguson played the sort of innings Kallis is known for: a steady, if sedate, start followed by a compelling finish. Kallis, however, was unable to do that today. He didn't get enough strike: at the end of the sixth over, Kallis had faced only eight balls, and only 16 balls after ten. He was caught and bowled for 20 soon after by Daniel Harris, leaving the Knight Riders on 81 for 4.

Kallis' partners had used the majority of the strike to attempt a rash of attacking shots, and perished in the process. Manvinder Bisla struck three fours in the opening over but was bowled in the second by medium-pacer Kane Richardson, whom South Australia had drafted in for this game along with Gary Putland. Putland would finish with 3 for 31. Shakib Al Hasan and Gautam Gambhir hit sparkling boundaries but failed to get past 15.

The contest ended when Yusuf skied Putland towards third man and was caught by Aaron O'Brien, who sprinted back from the circle. It was the first ball off the 15th over, precisely when Ferguson had begun his onslaught in South Australia's innings. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Ganga loses gamble on safety-first

The fifth bowler continues to be a problem for Trinidad and Tobago

Yuzvendra Chahal did the job with the bat © Associated Press

For the second game in a row at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, it went down to the last ball. For the second game in a row, it was two needed off the final delivery. For the second game in a row, the fielding captain chose to keep the field spread out, and the chasing side won.

On Friday, Wayne Parnell broke Royal Challengers Bangalore's hearts with a scuffed two to long-on. In that game, the defensive field for the final ball could have been explained by the high scores in the match and the fact that Parnell, a player with international experience and one accustomed to high-pressure situations, was at the crease and had just muscled his first ball for a boundary.

On Monday, in a game where both T&T and Mumbai Indians found run-scoring exceedingly difficult, the final ball was to be faced by Yuzvendra Chahal, who at 21 has little exposure on the big stage and shown modest batting capability. Even as late as three deliveries into the last over, the No.11 Chahal wouldn't have expected to be needed in the middle, only forced to stride out after run-outs on the fourth and fifth ball of the over.

The T&T captain, Daren Ganga, had attacked with helmeted close-in fielders for significant parts of the innings, but decided to keep a deep-set field for the last delivery to be bowled by his brother, the offspinner Sherwin. On the leg side, only short fine leg was in the circle, with three men patrolling the boundary. On the off side, there were three fielders in the ring, and a sweeper and long-off deep.

Perhaps the decision to not crowd the in-field and push for a win was a result of a lack of confidence in Sherwin Ganga. The fifth bowler has proved problematic for T&T so far in the tournament, with Ganga and Lendl Simmons going at nearly 12 an over in the two matches in the qualifying phase.

The strategy nearly paid off as well, despite Ganga sending down a poor final delivery. It was a low full toss that was flailed toward midwicket. Adrian Barath had to come in from deep midwicket nearly all the way to the circle, but even as he collected the ball the batsmen had just taken off for the second. Even though Barath's throw was several yards off the mark, wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin had the time to effect the run-out that would have prompted the super over T&T aimed for, but his underarm throw missed the stumps.

Most of the T&T fielders sank to their knees in despair, and the others barely moved, still digesting the fact that their valiant attempts to defend the seemingly indefensible total of 98 had left them with nothing to show on the points table. Only Daren Ganga shuffled around, patting his team-mates on the back and lauding their efforts.

After the match, Daren Ganga explained why he went for the tactic. "Whenever a team has got two runs to win, you first and foremost ensure that you at least get a draw," he said. "Judging from the way we were bowling and the way we were fielding, it was very difficult for us to defend one run, we tried to have another bite at the cherry, so to speak, and play the super over."

There should be little criticism of Daren Ganga for the strategy, though T&T lost a match that Harbhajan Singh said Mumbai didn't deserve to win. Given the fiendish difficulty in stopping the single even with the field brought in, the safety-first approach was probably the sensible option. It would have been fun, though, to see if Chahal would have batted for the super over if all the fielders were positioned in the circle or if he would have gone for glory by hitting over the top. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

van der Merwe leads Somerset to tight win

Somerset 164 for 5 (van der Merwe 73, Trego 28) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 161 for 3 (Kallis 74*, Yusuf 39*, Gregory 2-9) by five wickets

Roelof van der Merwe excelled with bat and ball to lead Somerset past Kolkata © AFP

Jacques Kallis showed technical prowess, Yusuf Pathan great power, but the pugnacious Roelof van der Merwe mastered the slow and low track the best to help Somerset chase a daunting 162. Kolkata Knight Riders' late surge with both bat and ball made them work hard for the win, Kolkata looted 78 off the last six overs, and quick wickets meant Somerset had to struggle for 43 off their last seven.

Even when Kallis and Yusuf went berserk, van der Merwe was the only man to hold his own. He went for just 14 from the 18th and 20 overs despite two dropped catches, one of which went for four. With the bat in hand he was an absolute jack in the box, reverse-sweeping sixes, managing to mishit over the infield, drop-kicking his favourite cricketer Kallis over midwicket, late-cutting the spinners delicately, and scoring the third-fastest Champions league fifty.

It would have been easy for Somerset to feel disheartened after part-timer Arul Suppiah conceded 30 off the 15th over, or feel hard done by Brett Lee's getting away with clear overhead bouncers and Alfonso Thomas' being penalised for a border-line slower bouncer with Kallis down on his knees. Especially when Thomas followed that harsh call with a high full toss that Kallis duly deposited for a six.

Somerset, though, got stuck in. And like with the ball van, der Merwe was the man with the bat. He came in to bat when Iqbal Abdulla struck with the first ball off the second over, but dominated so much that Peter Trego managed only 23 out of a 105-run second-wicket stand. He began with an edge through the vacant first slip region, but proceeded to counter Abdulla and Shakib Al Hasan with lovely late-cutting. It frustrated Kolkata so much that Manoj Tiwary - wired up for live-time interviews - berated his spinners on air for not turning the ball at all. The reverse-swept six off Shakib worked a treat.

Kallis, who had worked hard in the first innings for his 74, was picked up for a six over midwicket and then upper-cut over the keeper's head. That it was his devotee hitting him out of the attack made it more interesting to watch. At that time Somerset had reached 107 in 10 overs, and all they needed was milking. Kolkata, though, weren't quite bovine, and Shakib brought them back. He dropped a caught-and-bowled from Trego but produced a direct-hit to run him out. The one from van der Merwe in the same over he gleefully accepted.

With two new batsmen in, the pitch was back to being a mud-wrestling arena. The ball held up from the middle of the pitch, and stroke-making was difficult again. Nick Compton, Arul Suppiah and Steve Snell kept their cool for long enough to see them through with two balls to spare.

It was similar sensible batting from Kallis that had kept Kolkata alive in the first quarter of the game. With Somerset bowlers using the slow track well and the fielders giving hardly anything away, Kallis had to use all his technique and judgement. It took him 39 deliveries to reach a strike-rate of 100. That was in the 14th over, when he hit his first six to take Kolkata to 82, off the 82nd legal delivery. In the next over, Thomas, the exemplary Somerset captain, gambled. He asked part-time spinner Suppiah to bowl. He was the seventh bowler used, and the run-rate of six an over then didn't suggest Somerset needed overs to be made up. Perhaps Thomas was greedy with the slow track now.

Yusuf seized the moment. He stood still, waited for the full flat deliveries and kept swinging to leg, hitting four consecutive sixes. Eighty-three had become 113 in one over, and clearly the fielding side, who had played smart cricket until then, was rattled. Catches were dropped, overthrows conceded, Kallis joined in in the fun too, but van der Merwe was still in their face. He would continue to be there with the bat too. © ESPN EMEA Ltd

Malinga's cameo outdoes Hussey's hard work

Mumbai Indians 159 for 7 (Malinga 37*, Ashwin 2-23, Raina 2-6) beat Chennai Super Kings 158 for 4 (Hussey 81, Dhoni 22*) by three wickets

	Lasith Malinga's late surge with the bat outdid Michael Hussey's solid knock earlier in the day © AFP

It is not raining, it is absolutely pouring for MS Dhoni. On a night that everything was going to script for Dhoni's side - the toss was won on a slow track, Michael Hussey had scored 81 to set up a more-than-competitive total, the slower bowlers had choked the Mumbai Indians innings off, Dhoni had himself pulled off two good stumpings and a dodgy catch - he missed a fairly simple chance to stump Lasith Malinga. Malinga had come in to bat with 53 required in 4.4 overs with three wickets in hand, but with nothing to lose he swung hard. When he connected clean he hit sixes, when he edged he got fours, when he missed he got byes. With 37 off 18, he completed an improbable win with one ball to go.

It was a classical Twenty20 case of four overs outweighing the hard work done over 36 overs. It all began with the profusely sweating Hussey. He had lost four kilos over September 16 and 17 in Colombo when scoring the century that earned him the third of three Man-of-the-Match awards in the three-Test series. A week later, in similar humid conditions but a completely different format, he seemed like he had never stopped playing Indian leagues on slow and low pitches.

Seamlessly he went from playing dabs and nudges for ones and twos to pulling out the big hits, helping Chennai double their 12-over score of 79. He even got the better of Malinga, scoring 13 off the bowler's third over, but Malinga came back well to concede just eight of his last. Little did Malinga know then that he would be doing similar things with the bat at a similar stage of the next innings.

Mumbai's openers knew a majority of their scoring would have to be done against the hard ball, and came out swinging accordingly. However, the approach was not going to work against the spinners. Hussey played 22 dots in his innings of 81; Aiden Blizzard, though he hit attractive shots, failed to score off ten balls in his 28. R Ashwin came on to accentuate the dots. Almost inevitably he got Jacobs stumped down the leg side. Dhoni's no-reverse-follow-through stumping worked a treat here.

Dhoni introduced Raina before the specialist spinner, Shadab Jakati, and was rewarded with another stumping to send T Suman back. That followed a low catch to dismiss Ambati Rayudu, a piece of action that didn't meet the scrutiny it deserved. Once again it was all down to Pollard, who flattered, promised, and as has so often happened, deceived by top-edging a slower one from Albie Morkel. Then came Malinga.

He began with a pulled four off Morkel, but his innings reached a crescendo when he hit successive deliveries from Jakati for near-parallel straight sixes into both dugouts. Chennai were not panicking quite yet. Later in the over Malinga ran past a flat one from Jakati. This time Dhoni had enough time to collect it cleanly, but his instinctive no-reverse-follow-through method caused the ball to spill. He rarely misses those. He did today with 31 still required off three overs.

In the next over Malinga edged a Bollinger yorker fine for four. The curse of the batsmen with nothing to lose was working. Bollinger came back with four slower deliveries that went for just one run. Morkel tried slower balls too, but bowled two of them wide. The one quick one he bowled Malinga sent for another flat six over long-off. Still at 13 required off seven, Chennai were the favourites.

Morkel finished his night deceiving Malinga with a slower ball. The ball bounced halfway through to Dhoni, took a vicious bad bounce towards his face, and went for two byes. The second delivery of the last over Malinga absolutely slapped with no idea where he was hitting. It went flying over point for four, and Mumbai were now the favourites with six required off four. Captain Harbhajan Singh provided the finishing touches with a clipped four off a slower one and a single off the fifth ball of the over. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.