Mohali thrash Bangalore by six wickets (Royal Challengers Full Highlights Vs Kings XI)

Match 25 is something that Bangalore will like to forget quickly as they were drubbed by six wickets by Mohali, who registered their fifth consecutive win in the Indian Premier League. After Rahul Dravid played the lone hand to take Bangalore to 126, Mohali cruised to victory with eight balls to spare at the Chinnaswamy stadium on Monday.


Bangalore defending the modest total started off well with Zaheer Khan scalping James Hopes in the second over for five. But Ramnaresh Sarwan, making a comeback, along with Shaun Marsh batted the home side almost out of the game with a 54-run stand. Sarwan slammed four fours and one six in his 31 before Praveen Kumar got him caught behind.


And when skipper Yuvraj fell for one, Bangalore's hopes came to life again but Marsh continued his prolific form to come up with another impressive show. The Aussie hit four boundaries and one six in his 34-ball 39 before he was cleaned up by Zaheer in the 15th over. But it proved a little too late in the day for Bangalore as Mahela Jayawardene (17 not out) and Irfan Pathan (17 not out) scored the required runs without much trouble.


After Bangalore were put in to bat on a pitch that assisted seamers, the home team got off to a disastrous start. S Sreesanth's early strikes and an unfortunate run out reduced them to 15-3 in the fourth over. With three of his top four batsmen falling for no score, Dravid stemmed the rot as he along with the young Virat Kohli strung a 54-run stand. And after Kohli fell in the 13th over, Piyush Chawla removed Misbah-ul-Haq (eight) and Praveen Kumar (zero) in a space of two deliveries and then cleaned up Zaheer in his next over as Dravid watched his team crumble from the other end.


With no Mark Boucher in the side, the Bangalore captain realised that time had come to put some quick runs on the board as signs of getting bowled out within the 20 overs loomed large. Dravid clobbered three boundaries in the 18th over to reach his first fifty in the competition in 44 balls. And it looked like the skipper will lead his side to a respectable total when a superb inside-out hit by him off Pathan saw the ball sail over the extra-cover fence, much to the crowd's delight. But Dravid top-edged the next ball to Jayawardene at third-man and with it went Bangalore's hope of a challenging total.


The home side were unable to recover from the early jolts as Sreesanth (2-16), Chawla (3-25) and Pathan (1-13) came up with fantastic spells to put the shackles on the scoring.


Yuvraj's decision to field was justified in the first over itself as Sreesanth bowled a deadly opening over to set the cat among the pigeons in the Bangalore camp.


Sreesanth induced Wasim Jaffer to edge the fourth ball of the game to wicketkeeper Uday Kaul, who took the place behind the stumps in the absence of Kumar Sangakkara and then swung the next ball in to clean up Aussie Cameron White, whose first knock in the IPL lasted only one ball. A misunderstanding between Kohli and Jacques Kallis saw the later being the run-out in the fourth over with Bangalore in tottering at 15-3.


Kohli and Dravid batted with caution ensuring there were no further hiccups at the start as Bangalore lingered to 50 in the 10th over. Kohli trying to get a move on failed to pull off the attempted big shots as Mohali kept a tight leash on the scoring-rate. India's under-19 captain got a reprieve when James Hopes floored a skier off Sreesanth's last ball of the game but it did not prove costly as an ordinary shot off Pathan in the next over ended Kohli's tenure for 34, which took 36 balls.


Bangalore now after five losses are at the bottom of the points table with only Hyderabad, who have played one less game, below them. On the other hand, Mohali after a poor start in the competition are at the top of the table along with Jaipur.