Vettori’s team reaches IPL final
Star signings AB de Villiers and Shane Watson have powered the Daniel Vettori-coached Bangalore Royal Challengers into the IPL final.
Vettori’s Bangalore bagged a four-wicket win against Brendon McCullum and the Gujarat Lions in the first qualifying final yesterday.
South African skipper de Villiers played the leading role with a stunning 79 off just 47 balls to help the hosts out of trouble and eventually past their target of 159 with 10 balls to spare.
Australian allrounder Watson, who produced an IPL auction-high bid of NZ$2.11 million in February, did the damage in the first innings, picking up four wickets as McCullum made just one in Gujarat’s batting effort.
Despite the loss, McCullum and the Lions get a second chance after finishing second behind the starstudded Bangalore outfit on the IPL ladder.
They will face the winner of the second qualifying final between Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Kolkata Knight Riders.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and swing bowler Trent Boult play for Hyderabad and bighitting Kiwi batsman Colin Munro is part of the Kolkata set-up, although Williamson is the only one of those three to see regular game-time in the tournament this season.
In the first qualifier between the top two teams, a brilliant 73 from just 41 balls to West Indian Dwayne Smith allowed Gujarat to recover from a disastrous start and go on to post a respectable total.
McCullum was removed by Iqbal Abdullah for one and the visitors lost two more wickets as they fell to 9-3 in the fourth over.
Smith’s counter-attacking knock, which included six sixes and five fours, ensured there was a fightback, with medium-pacer Watson coming on at first-change and finishing with 4-29.
The Lions bowling effort got off to the perfect start, removing superstar duo Virat Kohli (0) and Chris Gayle (9) with just 25 runs in the board in the fourth over.
But from there it was almost all de Villiers, the multi-skilled player hitting five fours and five sixes as he and Abdullah (33 off 25) blasted their side to victory after needing 91 off 62 with six wickets down.