'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.

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.