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.

RCB rip through second consecutive 200-plus target

Royal Challengers Bangalore 204 for 4 (Gayle 92, Kolhi 84*, Cummins 4-45) beat New South Wales 203 for 2 (Warner 123*, D Smith 62) by six wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

	David Warner before his side was grounded. He scored a second consecutive T20 century © Associated Press Enlarge
Related Links Matches: Royal Challengers Bangalore v New South Wales at Bangalore Series/Tournaments: Nokia Champions League T20 Teams: Australia | India | New South Wales | Royal Challengers Bangalore

Bring the ramparts from Galle, the wall from China, the many castles from Europe. Bring all the defence buildings, tanks, experts. Place them in the Chinnaswamy Stadium, fast becoming the Wanderers of the northern hemisphere. Hide your 200-plus targets behind them. Chris Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Virat Kolhi will still chase them down at this venue. David Warner tonight became the first man to score back-to-back Twenty20 centuries, but even more incredibly the Royal Challengers Bangalore became the first team to chase down 200-plus scores in consecutive matches, that too with nine balls to spare.

Before the match, Gayle and Warner, soon to be opening partners for Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League, were seen chatting with each other. When walking back, Warner took a look at Gayle's bat. He held it sideways, and his jaw dropped looking at the thickness of the leading edge. They both had a laugh, and went their separate ways for the night. Gayle laughed the final laugh, though, as his 92 off 41 in company with Kohli's unbeaten 84 off 49 outdid Warner's extraordinary 123 off 68 and Daniel Smith's 62 off 42. That leading edge was never hit on a night when clean hits tested the size of the stadium, and the half-hits managed to clear the short boundaries. Warner and Gayle dented the roof once each, but Gayle - symbolically - managed to send one of them out of the stadium. Records fell like crops during a hurricane, and the crowd - who must tire of this some day - matched the hitting with their incredible noise, appreciating both teams, only the home side more loudly.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore chose to chase again, packing their side with an extra batsman. Clearly all their eggs were in the basket woven together by Dilshan, Gayle and Kolhi. The basket proved to be strong enough. Incredible as it may sound, it was perhaps Dilshan who made the most crucial contribution even though he managed just four off nine. On a night that the other 34.3 overs went for 397 runs, Dilshan bowled his four overs for 10 runs at the top of the NSW innings. On a night that 26 sixes and 34 fours were hit, Dilshan went for none, as the Royal Challengers registered their least expensive Powerplay overs of this tournament, going for 47 runs. That Dilshan registered the Royal Challengers' most economic four-over figures was perhaps the most crucial record on a night that must have sent statisticians into frenzy.

Daniel Vettori's captaincy has come in for a bit of criticism in this event, mainly for under-using his part-time spinners, but he got it right when he asked Dilshan to bowl the first over of the night. It is hard to say if it was the batsmen were a touch too circumspect. The question must only arise because the contrast between his figures and the rest was stark. He did seem to do the right things, though: he didn't give the batsmen the pace or the rank bad deliveries. That he managed to frustrated Shane Watson into the rare injudicious shot of the night, costing him his wicket drew a bit of caution, and he rushed through his quota.

Apart from that, the rest of the NSW innings - the whole match in fact - was carnage, par for the Chinnaswamy course. Daniel Smith cheeked his way to a maiden fifty, even managing to out-hit Warner. He late-cut delicately, drove over cover with aplomb, slogged savagely, and enjoyed a few edges, even as Warner sized up the bowlers and the field, a time bomb ticking over.

	Chris Gayle's heavy bat ended New South Wales' tournament© Associated Press Enlarge

Once he got into acceleration mode in the 10th over, hitting a full toss from S Aravind for four past long-on, there was no stopping him. He scored 81 off the last 33 balls he faced as NSW looted 131 from the last 10.1 overs. Of the 11 sixes that Warner hit, two stood out: the regulation slog over midwicket that hit the roof, the switch-slog off the medium-pace of Raju Bhatkal, which cleared wide long-off with ease. Dirk Nannes, who many believe shouldn't have been allowed to play this tournament, went for 51 in his four, reaching a tournament economy-rate of 10.42 for a solitary wicket.

Even after 23 runs off the last over, once again damaging poor Aravind's figures, there was uncertainty around the total. NSW would need to cut singles, keep twos down to one, and take miraculous catches. They dropped three of them. Dilshan's miss didn't hurt them much, but Kohli made them pay for two lives. One of them was a sitter dropped by Pat Cummins when Kohli was on 44. Ironically, after Cummins had taken three wickets to give NSW another life, the miraculous catch offered itself. Kohli had been under pressure then, the last 14 balls had brought nine runs, and they now needed 24 off 16. A highly unreliable lower order waited. Kohli slogged, the mis-hit went to the right and in front of long-on, Mosies Henriques charged after it, but couldn't convert the half chance.

Kolhi proceeded to knock off the rest of the target with ease. Just as easy as it had earlier seemed for Kohli and Gayle. It seemed all they needed to do was raise the bat high; by some sort of design, they would hit the ball well and in the gaps. At times Gayle wouldn't even need the back lift. He just caressed a few full deliveries for parallel sixes and fours. It was a highlights package that had to be further edited for time. A good old friend, the yorker, was sorely missed among the crowd of fancy slower balls of all varieties. The only one produced got NSW a wicket.

'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.

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.

Champions League T20 to have 13 teams, qualifying stage

Mumbai: The Champions League T20 will have 13 teams this time around with six of them fighting it out in the qualifiers.


In pic: Chennai Super Kings pose with the 2010 Champions League Twenty20 trophy

The tournament will be held in two parts. The main event, scheduled from September 23 to October 9 in Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata, will be preceded by the qualifying stage Sep 19-21 in Hyderabad.

Like in the last edition, the main event will have 10 teams vying for top honours and three of those of sides will come from the qualifiers.

The new format has brought another Indian entry into the tournament with Kolkata Knight Riders being invited to play in the qualifiers. They finished fourth in this year's Indian Premier League and will be competing with the West Indies T20 Champions Trinidad and Tobago and the winners of the HRV Cup, New Zealand's domestic Twenty20 competition - Auckland Aces - alongside two teams from England and one from Sri Lanka which are yet to be decided.

The three qualifiers will meet the seven teams who have already qualified for the world's biggest T20 competition for domestic teams. The teams who have already qualified comprise the top three from the Indian Premier League - Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians; the top two from the Big Bash in Australia - South Australia Redbacks and New South Wales; and South Africa's Warriors and Cape Cobras.

The sides in the main round will be divided into two groups of five, with the top two from each qualifying for the semifinals.

The opening game of the main round will be played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore and the semifinals and final at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. — IANS

Vijay stars in Chennai's successful title defence

Chennai Super Kings 205 for 5 (Vijay 95, Hussey 63) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 147 for 8 (Ashwin 3-16) by 58 runs

	M Vijay's 95 knocked Bangalore out of the contest © AFP

Match Meter CSK M Vijay and Michael Hussey put on 56 for 0 in the Powerplay and continue with the mayhem during a 159-run stand CSK R Ashwin knocks out Chris Gayle for a duck in the first over of the chase CSK Shadab Jakati traps AB de Villiers in the seventh over CSK Suresh Raina removes Virat Kohli in the 10th over Advantage Honours even

What would have been on Chennai Super Kings' wish list before this final? 1) Win toss on a slow pitch. 2) Great start by the openers. 3) Remove Chris Gayle for a duck. PS: While we are it why not knock out AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli cheaply? They got all that. Chennai produced a near-perfect game and mauled Royal Challengers Bangalore to lift their second IPL trophy.

M Vijay has rarely converted his starts this IPL and Michael Hussey hasn't sparkled in the previous few games. So what they do on the day of the big finale? They amass a sizzling 159-run partnership to launch Chennai to a massive total at the Chidambaram Stadium. R Ashwin then derailed the chase by packing off Gayle for a duck in the first over. Game over.

It was the ease with which the runs flowed and the calm manner in which they were accumulated by the Chennai openers that caught the eye. There were several big shots but nearly all of them were in conventional zones. There was just one bad shot in the first 14 overs. Just one. In the 10th over, Vijay had just played a nonchalant flick that sailed just clear of a lunging Luke Pomersbach on the deep-midwicket boundary. He then tried to slog the next ball across the line and edged it to the leg side. The reaction of the players reflected their awareness of the need to keep adrenalin in check: Vijay shadow practiced a straighter arc of the bat and Hussey rushed across to have a long chat.

For the duration of the partnership, which lasted 14.5 overs, they complemented each other with contrasting approaches. Hussey punctuated his bunts, chips and drives with the occasional big hit - the highlight was a monstrous heave off Syed Mohammad that crashed into the roof beyond wide long-on. Vijay went the other way. He punctuated his flamboyant on-the-up hits with quieter punches for singles and twos. They both ran between the wickets hard and fast and the scoring-rate never flagged. Vijay grew increasingly tired but it was Hussey who fell first, swatting a full toss from Mohammad to long-on. By then, they had laid a great platform.

It was Vijay who started the mayhem off the final delivery of the second over with a special shot. It was a short-of-length delivery with little room for maneuvering, or so it seemed, but Vijay wafted it on the up and through the line for a flamboyant six over long-on. Hussey pulled the next delivery, from Zaheer Khan, over the backward square-leg boundary to launch the assault. They repeated that double-dose of sixes again. Hussey swung the final delivery of the fifth over, bowled by Mohammad, over the midwicket boundary and Vijay lifted the next ball, from Chris Gayle, over long-on. Chennai reached 56 for 0 in six overs and kept going from strength to strength.

They started their bowling in the same way. Ashwin just needed three deliveries to remove the chief thorn in their path. The first two turned sharply away from Gayle before the third swerved in from round the stumps and skidded on to collect the edge from an attempted cut. de Villiers reeled off a few big shots but was trapped by Shadab Jakati and Suresh Raina had Kohli lbw to sew up the game for Chennai.

In contrast Bangalore slipped on the little things that matter on this stage. In the Powerplay, there were three instances of fielders succumbing to adrenalin rushes and indulging in needless throws; one, from Saurabh Tiwary, even went to the boundary. Pomersbach could have done a better job in seizing that chance from Vijay in the 10th over, and S Aravind messed up an opportunity to run out Hussey in the 12th over. Vijay, the non-striker, had called Hussey for a risky single and Aravind, the bowler who picked up the ball at short mid-on, flung it wide at the non-striker's end. There was another instance in the 11th over when the bowler, Mohammad, flung himself full stretch to his right but couldn't hang on to a difficult chance offered by Vijay. It was that kind of day. Things just didn't go right for Bangalore and everything went according to script for Chennai. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Chris Gayle carries Bangalore to final

Royal Challengers Bangalore 185 for 4 (Gayle 89, Agarwal 41, Munaf 2-27) beat Mumbai Indians 143 for 8 (Tendulkar 40, Vettori 3-19, Aravind 2-27) by 42 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

	Chris Gayle was devastating once again © AFP

Match Meter RCB Mumbai make wrong decisions Putting Bangalore in, Mumbai open with Abu Nechim, Chris Gayle takes 27 off the first over. RCB Gayle and Agarwal loot Mumbai Gayle and Mayan Agarwal plunder the Mumbai bowling attack with a 113-run opening stand in 10.4 overs. RCB Gayle and Aravind interrupt a flying start Gaye stifles Mumbai with a two-run third over, and S Aravind follows it up with wickets in back-to-back overs. RCB Syed sclaps the big one With Sachin Tendulkar looking dangerous, J Syed Mohammad bowls a big spinning delivery to have him stumped and reduce Mumbai to 68 for 3. RCB The final nail A spectacular catch by Abhimany Mithun at the long-on boundary sends Kieron Pollard back. Game over. Advantage Honours even

In Jamaica the term criss is used to suggest everything is all right. Royal Challengers Bangalore may as well rename him Criss Gayle. For with Gayle, they criss. Gayle fell 11 short of his third century this IPL, but for 15 overs he played so much above the game that the 37 that came in the five after his exit didn't look far off par on this surface. Mumbai struggled to replicate Gayle's impact except with the new ball when they got off to a flying start. Gayle came on then to stifle the openers with a two-run over. The pressure resulted in wickets, everything was criss again, and Bangalore were in the final of the IPL.

When batting, Gayle was assisted by Mayank Agarwal, his 20-year-old opening partner yet to make first-class debut, who scored 41 off 31 in a 113-run opening stand. Gayle will be the first one to concede, though, that he couldn't have found a more accommodating opposition. To begin with, Mumbai Indians opted to bowl on a track where sides batting first have won six out of seven games this season. Then they refused to take the bull by its horn, throwing the new ball to Abu Nechim as opposed to Lasith Malinga. It can be argued that they succeeded in the previous game with Dhawal Kulkarni bowling the first over, but surely against a side as heavily reliant on Gayle as Bangalore they would have unleashed their best bowler right away.

Nechim can still argue he hardly bowled a bad ball in that first over, but he still went for 27. The first of the boundaries came off an edge past slip, the second burst through Sachin Tendulkar at mid-off. Nechim, though, bowled length, and Gayle took six, two and four off the rest of the over. Agarwal played his part, foiling Mumbai's other strategic move of bowling Harbhajan Singh to Gayle. Gayle faced only one delivery in Harbhajan's two overs at the start, with Agarwal dominating the strike and hitting big, down the ground and with the turn, taking 20 runs.

More friendliness followed from Mumbai as Malinga dropped Agarwal at square leg. At 57 for 0 after four, it became a Gayle show. Malinga bowled one good over full of slower ones for just one, but Gayle had his way with the rest of the bowlers. Only Rohit Sharma escaped his wrath, but Agarwal tucked into him with a four and a six. The beauty of the partnership was obvious: the right-hand batsman took care of the offspinners, Gayle everything else. The best of Gayle revealed itself in the 10th over, when Nechim was almost through a decent comeback over for four runs. The last ball, though, hardly left the ground, and yet crashed into the sight screen. Gayle was on 61 off 32 then, Bangalore 111.

Rohit dropped Agarwal in the next over, but made amends two balls later. Gayle, however, was not through, and went on to suggest that maybe he didn't need any shielding from Harbhajan, smacking him for back-to-back sixes over midwicket. Munaf, who held his own along with Malinga, eventually got rid of Gayle with a slightly slower one, and patted Gayle's back as he walked back. All of a sudden, slower balls started working, the ball started gripping the surface, inside edges appeared, and the batting seemed like hard work. Just how well Gayle batted was further driven home.

Despite the early wickets, Tendulkar, through cricketing shots and some improvisation, kept Mumbai's fans interested with 40 off 24, but ICL returnee J Syed Mohammad produced one sharp offbreak across Tendulkar to get him stumped. Kieron Pollard, who often teases the fans in such chases with late but insufficient hitting, was spectacularly and coolly caught by Abhimanyu Mithun on the edge of the long-on boundary. With the Mumbai dugout right behind him, Mithun stood with his feet six inches inside as the Mumbai extras made way for him, stretched over the boundary and completed the catch one-handed to shut the door on Mumbai. The filmstar Mithun, known for his outlandish stunts, would have been proud. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.