Dramatic victory for Warriors

PRINCELY KNOCK: Ashwell Prince laid the foundation with a 55-ball 74 as Warriors pulled off a thrilling win against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Prince and skipper Botha do the trick for the visitors

Warriors snatched a dramatic, valiant last-ball victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opening game of the Champions League T20 here on Friday. The target was 173 and seven runs were needed off the final over; S. Arvind nearly swung the result the home side’s way.

Johan Botha, who had, until then played remarkably well, could not score off the first two balls and holed out to long-on off the third ball. Nicky Boje picked up a single off the next before number nine Wayne Parnell finished things off with a four to mid-wicket and a desperately run two.

Man-of-the-Match Ashwell Prince produced an innings that emphatically demolished his contrasting stereotype. His 74 (55b, 6×4, 3×6) and the 73-run stand for the fifth wicket (39 balls) with Botha (42, 24b, 2×4, 3×6) dragged Warriors out of the bog it had gotten into.

The visitors motored from 82 for four in the 12th over to a position of superiority, needing 36 runs off the final three overs.

Costly over

Chris Gayle, RCB’s giant hope with the bat, went for 17 runs in the 18th over, leaving those after him with too much to do. Though Mithun dismissed Prince and Craig Thyssen thereafter, the six he conceded to Boje off the last ball of the 19th disadvantaged his side enormously.

Daniel Vettori emerged with the most credit among RCB’s bowlers, returning figures of two for 26 off his four overs, on a night when the two sides’ fielding contrasted starkly. Prince and Colin Ingram both benefited from reprieves; RCB’s hopes of a trophy have suffered a setback.

Put in, RCB lost Mayank Agarwal in the opening over but Gayle started blazing away at the other end almost immediately, utterly belying his four-month break from competitive cricket. The Jamaican bludgeoned sixes off Juan Theron and Lonwabo Tsotsobe, overs two and three yielding 34 runs in total. Wayne Parnell was then introduced, and to great effect. The left-armer had Gayle caught by a back-pedalling Botha at mid-on for 23, having attempted a slap over the onside from shoulder height. Virat Kohli and A.B. de Villiers knuckled down to work, running their ones and twos hard, the former even surviving the narrowest of run-out appeals.

de Villiers raised the team’s fifty in the sixth over, with a delightfully driven boundary to mid-wicket off Parnell. Botha and Boje came on, tying RCB down; their collective four-over spell costing just 25 runs.

Kohli fell just after the third-wicket partnership had crossed 50, pulling Theron to mid-wicket.

It was 86 for three at that point and Saurabh Tiwary had time to scratch around and still slog his way to a significant score, but did himself no favours.

Mohammad Kaif remained the last recognised batsman after Tiwary and de Villiers were dismissed, and helped RCB to 172, with 47 runs coming in the last five overs.

The scores:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: C. Gayle c Botha b Parnell 23 (14b, 2×4, 2×6), M. Agarwal c Ingram b Tsotsobe 0 (2b), V. Kohli c Parnell b Theron 34 (29b, 4×4), A.B. de Villiers c Tsotsobe b Botha 31 (25b, 1×4, 2×6), S. Tiwary c Kreusch b Boje 28 (15b, 2×4, 2×6), Mohd. Kaif c Parnell b Theron 26 (20b, 1×4, 2×6), D. Vettori c Prince b Theron 8 (6b, 1×4), A. Mithun c Tsotsobe b Theron 4 (3b, 1×4), Syed Mohammed (not out) 6 (4b), S. Arvind (not out) 1 (2b); Extras (b-1, lb-2, w-8): 11; Total (for eight wkts. in 20 overs): 172.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-34, 3-86, 4-113, 5-130, 6-158, 7-160, 8-164.

Warriors bowling: Tsotsobe 3-0-31-1, Theron 3-0-29-4, Parnell 4-0-32-1, Botha 4-0-36-1, Boje 4-0-25-1, Smuts 2-0-16-0.

Warriors: J.J. Smuts c Kohli b Arvind 12 (14b, 1×6), A. Prince c Nannes b Mithun 74 (55b, 6×4, 3×6), C. Ingram c Mithun b Vettori 15 (8b, 2×4, 1×6), M. Boucher lbw b Syed 1 (3b), J. Kreusch c Arvind b Vettori 6 (10b), J. Botha c Kohli b Arvind 42 (24b, 2×4, 3×6), C. Thyssen c de Villiers b Mithun 4 (2b, 1×4), N. Boje (not out) 7 (2b, 1×6), W. Parnell (not out) 6 (2b, 1×4); Extras (lb-1, w-5): 6; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs): 173.

Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-57, 3-59, 4-82, 5-155, 6-160, 7-166.

Royal Challengers Bangalore bowling: Gayle 4-0-43-0, Arvind 4-0-32-2, Nannes 4-0-31-0, Vettori 4-0-26-2, Syed 2-0-15-1, Mithun 2-0-25-2.