That brings
an end to our coverage for this game. This is me, Akshay Bhide, signing off on
behalf of my co-commentator Saiprasad Kagne and scorer Manish Bishnoi. Until
next time, cheers and good night.
Harbhajan Singh | Manipal Tigers Skipper:"Very good
game. Every match is important from here onwards for us. The last time didn’t go as
per planned but happy to finish on the winning side today. If we hit the hard
length at this venue, it’s not easy to hit. Dilhara was confident and he said
he will enjoy bowling the last over. Tatenda was not in the side today but he came
into the side and showed what he can do. Never thought he would bat the way he
did today. I feel we were 10-15 runs short but good to win the game."
Irfan Pathan | Bhilwara Kings Captain: "Yeah, it was really a close game in terms of batting and bowling. Me and my brother Yusuf decided to wait for the crunch overs as we wanted to play as many as overs of Murali and Harbhajan. It's a hard luck today but we know we'll performance better in our upcoming games."
Dilhara Fernando | Legend of the Match:"I really enjoyed bowling. I work hard on my fitness and happy to pick up wickets. I like to bowl fast and I don't mind doing it over and over again."
Dilhara Fernando is named the Legend of the Match.
Time for the post-match presentation.
Akshay: That’s it.
What a humdinger of a contest we have just witnessed here in Cuttack. There
were plenty of ebbs and flows throughout the game and it went down to the wire.
In the end, the Manipal Tigers held their nerves to beat Bhilwara Kings by
three runs to register their first win of the competition. Credit to Dilhara Fernando who defended nine runs in the final over to help his side finish on the winning side. Chasing
176, the Kings got off to a shaky start. They lost Morne van Wyk in the second
over on four and William Porterfield took his time to settle in. Matt Prior
came out with a positive intent. They scored 43/1 at the end of the fielding restrictions.
Muttiah Muralitharan trapped Porterfield on 28 and Harbhajan Singh cleaned up
Prior on 17 in his first over to peg back the Kings. They were 70/3 at the halfway
mark, with the required run rate creeping above 10. Yusuf
Pathan arrived at the crease and hit some lusty blows. Tanmay Srivastava struggled
for timing and departed on a 24-ball 26. Irfan Pathan joined his brother and
started the onslaught. They were helped by some poor bowling from the Tigers as
the Kings came back in the contest. Irfan departed on 23 off 14 balls in the 18th
over. There was no stopping Yusuf at the other end. He took his side to
touching distance but fell on 21-ball 42 in the penultimate over. With nine required
from the last over, Fernando held his nerves and picked up two wickets to
defend the total successfully. The Tigers won the match by 3 runs to grab their
first win of the competition. Fernando finished with four wickets and Harbhajan also chipped in with a couple of wickets. It was
Bhilwara Kings skipper Irfan Pathan who won the toss and opted to bowl first.
The decision backfired as the Manipal Tigers got off to a sensational start.
Jesse Ryder and Tatenda Taibu took on the bowling from the word go and never
allowed the Tigers’ bowlers to settle in. Both put 63 between them at the end
of the powerplay. The 109-run opening stand came to an end in the 11th
over when Ryder was dismissed three short of his half-century. Taibu fell in
the same over on 54 to Yusuf Pathan. Two wickets
in quick succession helped the Kings get back in the contest. They kept a check
on the scoring rate and kept picking wickets at regular intervals. Mohammad Kaif
looked good for his 28 but the lack of significant contributions from the lower
order batters resulted in them finishing their innings on 175/8. Tino Best was
the pick of the bowlers for the Kings as he finished with figures of 3/20.
Yusuf Pathan also chipped in with a couple of scalps. It was a nail-biting contest and the Tigers came out victorious. Stick around for the post-match presentation.
Match Stats | Death Overs Comparison:
Manipal Tigers: 35/5
Bhilwara Kings: 56/4
OVER 20
Bhilwara Kings
172/9
Fidel Edwards
1(1)
Tim Bresnan
2(2)
Dilhara Fernando
4-31(4.0)
19.6 D Fernando to T Bresnan
1 ONLY A SINGLE OFF THE LAST BALL !!! Good length delivery outside off, Tim drives it along the ground towards the covers area here. Manipal Tigers won by 3 runs !!!
Akshay: 5 from 1. Four for a super over. A six will do it for the Kings. Fernando is having a long chat with Harbhajan. Where will be bowl?
19.5 D Fernando to F Edwards
1 Edwards collects a single now. He gets an inside edge towards the keeper and a mis-field allows him to collect a single.
W WICKET !!! CLEAN BOWLED !!! Straight length delivery around off, Tino was looking to loft that one towards the leg side but unfortunately he misses it entirely and the ball went through his shot all the way straight to hit the stumps to clean bowled him !!!
Akshay: 6 runs required from the last 3 balls. Can he be the man for the Kings or will Fernando defend it?
19.3 D Fernando to T Best
2 LUCKY !!! Length delivery outside off, Tino manages to get an outside edge past the keeper behind the ground for a comfortable brace in the end.
19.2 D Fernando to T Bresnan
1 Single towards the fine leg area, Straight and full outside off, Tim gets a huge inside edge behind the wicket for a single.