RCB Enter Semis

RCB snatches last-ball thriller to enter semis

Arun Karthik exults after hitting a six off the last delivery of the match to propel RCB into the semifinal of the Champions League T20. Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

Incredible scenes of exhilaration were witnessed at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Wednesday night as Arun Karthik struck the match’s last ball high and mighty over mid-wicket and leapt in the air and punched his chest. 

Seconds earlier, a game of endless twists had reached its final tipping point – six required from the final ball with Daniel Christian running in. Karthik did the deed to help Royal Challengers Bangalore defeat South Australia Redbacks by two wickets in a decisive Group B match of the Champions League T20. The victory helped RCB finish second with four points in the group and the host will now clash with New South Wales in the semifinal here on Friday. 

The wicketkeeper-batsman’s pulse-pounding shot was the perfect finish to the hard work and harder hits generated by Tillakaratne Dilshan (74, 47b, 9x4, 2x6) and Virat Kohli (70, 36b, 4x4, 6x6) while chasing South Australia’s 214 for two. RCB finished with 215 for eight in 20 overs and this will be a night to remember for the fans, who hopped between hope and prayers with alarming regularity in the final stages. 

Gayle, Dilshan explode

RCB rested its case on Chris Gayle and Dilshan. The two marauders with the bat were expected to tweak in a miracle and they tried their best under the circumstances. Dilshan was first off the blocks and Gayle followed suit though he stayed guarded against the regular gambit of rival skippers – the employment of spin in the opening overs. 

Off-spinner Nathan Lyon however found Dilshan a distraction as the scoop over fine-leg was unfurled and the booming shots down the ground continued. Lyon also felt Gayle’s heat as the opener swatted a six without fuss. Gayle however perished to Christian but the openers by then had added 65 from 37 deliveries to give Kohli the needed cushion to mount his innings.

Kohli and Dilshan then shared a 100-run second-wicket partnership spread over 53 balls and that helped the crowd forget Gayle’s departure. Kohli played his inside-out drives, was adept to rock back on the back-foot and glide a few past short third-man and even outscored Dilshan as suddenly the RCB dug-out came to life. Kohli and Dilshan dismissed a Daniel Harris over for 25 runs and the host was well on course before a spate of sixes allied with wickets dragged the match into roller-coaster terrain. 

Tait shines

Dropped on 69 by Callum Ferguson, Kohli failed to build on and in the same over bowled by Shaun Tait, RCB’s young talisman holed out in the deep. Kohli’s dismissal heralded a passage of play, in which both teams wavered between agony and ecstasy as six wickets fell while the 37 runs that came at a healthy pace meant that RCB still had a chance.

Tait’s (five for 32) game-changing overs (15 and 19), in which he conceded four runs each and bagged one and three wickets respectively seemed to have done enough for South Australia to wrench its way back until the last over bowled by Christian went awry and Karthik lost himself under a mass of RCB teammates. South Australia finished with three points from four matches and crashed out of the tournament. 

Earlier, Michael Klinger won the toss, opted to bat and the South Australian captain found vindication from across 22 yards. Standing at the non-striker’s end, Klinger watched his partner Daniel Harris lash merrily against Dirk Nannes and S. Arvind. The first four overs yielded 49 through a flurry of swipes, lofted and square drives as Harris (108 n.o., 61b, 17x4, 2x6) dominated the partnership that eventually clocked 54 runs with Klinger’s contribution being a mere seven.

Arvind’s first two overs proved costly at 12 and 16 respectively and Nannes’ second over went for 18 runs. The lone scare for Harris was when he responded to his captain’s call for a suicidal single and watched Kohli’s throw miss the stumps. The scoring rate dipped once RCB captain Daniel Vettori stepped in from the fifth over and with fellow left-arm spinner Syed Mohammad bowling the sixth, spin was fully in the air. 

Mohammad lured Klinger with one that dipped and turned and Karthik whipped the bails in a flash. Vettori, Mohammad and then Raju Bhatkal and Kohli’s gentle seamers made scoring difficult for a while on a sluggish track. The run-rate slowed from above seven to just over five but Harris stayed alert to the loose deliveries and the pull and the clout over the bowler’s head was used effectively in a phase largely marked by the hurried single. 

Harris along with Callum Ferguson raised 114 runs for the second-wicket as the visitor motored along nicely with an assured trot replacing the opening blitz. Living in Harris’ huge shadow, Ferguson (70, 43b, 4x4, 3x6) still managed to nudge his and the team’s score before he slotted the fifth gear with a six off Arvind. Next he hoisted Nannes into the pavilion tier and South Australia found its second wind, a tornado at that, to gallop ahead. 

Ferguson fell with a mistimed hoick but Harris plundered at will against a wilting attack and his six over backward square-leg off Nannes spelt disdain and power. That stroke ushered in Harris’ hundred while the fielders displayed sweaty palms and watched the visitor post a daunting total that in the end proved attainable thanks to Dilshan, Kohli and Karthik’s ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ shot. 

The scores: South Australia: D. Harris (not out) 108 (61b, 17x4, 2x6), M. Klinger st Karthik b Syed Mohammad 7 (8b, 1x4), C. Ferguson c Karthik b Bhatkal 70 (43b, 4x4, 3x6), D. Christian (not out) 27 (9b, 4x4). Extras (b-1, nb-2): 2; Total (for two wkts., in 20 overs): 214.

Fall of wickets: 1-54, 2-168. 

Royal Challengers Bangalore bowling: Nannes 4-0-49-0, Arvind 4-0-69-0, Vettori 4-0-24-0, Syed Mohammad 4-0-29-1, Bhatkal 3-0-31-1, Kohli 1-0-11-0. 

Royal Challengers Bangalore: C. Gayle c Klinger b Christian 26 (15b, 3x6), T. Dilshan b Tait 74 (47b, 9x4, 2x6), V. Kohli c Borgas b Tait 70 (36b, 4x4, 6x6), S. Tiwary c Borgas b Tait 9 (7b, 1x6), M. Agarwal c Harris b O’Brien 6 (2b, 1x6), D. Vettori c Putland b Tait 8 (5b, 1x6), R. Bhatkal b Tait 1 (2b), A. Karthik (not out) 6 (2b, 1x6), S. Mohammad (run out) 2 (2b), S. Arvind (not out) 6 (3b). Extras (b-1, lb-1, nb-1, w-4): 7; Total (for eight wkts., in 20 overs): 215. 

Fall of wickets: 1-65, 2-165, 3-183, 4-190, 5-199, 6-200, 7-200, 8-202. 

South Australia bowling: Tait 4-0-32-5, Lyon 3-0-25-0, Richardson 3-0-34-0, Christian 4-0-44-1, O’Brien 4-0 44-1, Harris 2-0-34-0.