RCB register their first away victory
In their four previous encounters, Pune Warriors India never managed to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore and the struggling side failed to wipe off the poor record after going down by 17 runs at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium here on Thursday.
After posting 187/3, the visitors restricted the home team to 170/9, helping them register their first away win this season.
Chasing a daunting total, the home team struggled as captain Aaron Finch and T. Suman were back in the dugout by the seventh over. Pune were pushed further on the back foot when Vinay Kumar struck twice in the 11th over to send back Yuvraj Singh (16) and Steven Smith (4). However, Bangalore man Robin Uthappa 75 (45b, 5x4, 5x6) kept the hopes alive with a 50-run stand off 28 balls with Angelo Mathews. The hosts were back in the hunt when the 16th over bowled by Muttiah Muralitharan fetched 21 runs needing 45 from last four.
However, three wickets in next two overs including two in one over by Murali Kartik dashed hopes of an improbable victory. Kartik dimissed Abhishek Nayar and Uthappa, who got an outside edge to R. P Singh at short third-man.
Earlier, a late charge by Ab de Villiers 50 (23b, 6x4, 2x6) and Moises Henriques 27 from 13 to go with Saurabh Tiwary's half-century propelled Royal Royal Challengers Bangalore: S. Tiwary c Rahul b Dinda 52, C. Gayle c Bhuveneshwar b Suman 21, V. Kohli b Dinda 25, AB de Villiers (not out) 50, M. Henriques (not out) 27. Extras (lb 1, w 11) 12. Total (for three wickets in 20 overs) 187. FoW: 1-36, 2-99, 3-119. Bowling: Bhuvenshwar 3-020-0, Mendis 4-0-25-0, Suman 2-0-15-1, Mathews 2-023-0, Rahul 4-0-36-0, Yuvraj 1-0-15-0, Dinda 4-0-52-2. Pune Warriors: R. Uthappa c Singh b Kartik 75, A. Finch b Henriques 15, T. Suman (run out) 11, Yuvraj Singh c de Villiers b Vinay Kumar 16, S. Smith c Arun Karthik b Vinay Kumar 4, A. Mathews c Gayle b Vinay Kumar 32, A. Nayar c de Villiers b Kartik 1, B. Kumar c Kohli b Singh 2, A. Mendis lbw b Gayle 2, A. Dinda (not out) 6, R. Sharma (not out) 0. Extras (lb2, w4) 6. Total (for nine wickets from 20 overs) 170. FoW: 1-20, 2-46, 3-77, 4-81, 5144, 6-153, 7-159, 8-162, 9-165. Bowling M. Kartik 4-0-29-2, R.P. Singh 4-0-27-1, M. Henriques 4-0-44-1, R. Vinay Kumar 4-0-31-3, M. Muralitharan 3-0-32-0, C. Gayle 1-0-5-1. Challengers Bangalore to a strong total. The visitors, who opted to bat first and were 75/1 at the half way stage, smashed 112 in the next 10 to post the highest total at this ground in the ongoing season.
RCB’s foreign players de Villiers and Henriques shared a 68-run stand in only 29 balls for the fourth wicket where de Villiers completed his fifty off the last ball in just 23 deliveries. Henriques remained unbeaten on 27.