Chennai Super Kings Won by 92 runs
Over by Over commentry
Chennai Innings
1st over: Chenn
ai 9-0 (Hayden 7 Patel 1)Hayden and Patel, possibly the greatest little-and-large double act since Little and Large, open the innings, with Praveen Kumar taking the first over. "I'm still struggling to get interested in this whole IPL thing. I think the starry line ups actually make it worse, all those famous names randomly thrown together just puts me in mind of a testimonial." Tom Hopkins, I know just what you mean, that's why the rabid crowds at last year's games were so important, because they added the thing a sense of genuine import. Patel pushes the first run away to extra cover, and Hayden then squirts three thin runs through mid-wicket. A leg bye puts him back on strike and he cuts the last ball for four through cover. We immediately cut away to a Lynx advert.
2nd over: Chennai 15-0 (Hayden 7 Patel 4)And at the other end, Dale Steyn. Patel swings wildly at the first ball, and slices away an inside edge for two. A single and a wide trickle the score onwards. Hayden clumps a really bad shot - he was aiming through cover - over backward square for two. Here's Harkarn Sumal: "We went to watch Warwickshire vs Somerset at Edgbaston yesterday. Apart from the sunburn (really suffering today), there was more than could have been expected in common with the "spectacle" you're "guiding" us through. Despite the fact that there were only about two thousand people sprinkled around the place we had booming music (courtesy of the Indian wedding reception taking place in a hospitality suite) a couple of South Africans whacking sixes and making mincemeat of Warwickshire's inexperienced attack whilst razzing along at about six an over, and some serious corporate sponsorship.
"Somerset's players were sporting a natty sweater with the logo of "Blackacre Farm Eggs" on their backs. This was pipped in the chuckle stakes by the sight of Teeny Tiny Tim Ambrose in his Warwickshire garb, with the word "Gulliver" splatted across his chest, offering a Brobdingnagian chortle to the roasting spectators and a small increase in profile for a local travel agent."
3rd over: Chennai 28-0 (Hayden 16 Patel 9)Patel clips four through long-on, the batsmen trade singles and Kumar then switches around the wicket. Much good it does him. Patel knocks away another single. And the last ball is a full toss, which Hayden thrashes over square leg for a DLF MAXIMUM! That's a six, for those of you who aren't fluent in the steaming BS that is the IPL's lingo.
4th over: Chennai 36-0 (Hayden 17 Patel 17)It's another six. Patel playing a powerful pick up stroke over the leg side. Steyn ends the over with a yorker, which Hayden chops into the floor and then turns into a quick single.
5th over: Chennai 56-0 (Hayden 36 Patel 18)Kallis comes on for a bowl, and is immediately cut through extra cover for four by Hayden. The second ball is swatted around the corner for four more. The third ball is guided through backward point for the third straight four. The IPL are surely missing a trick in the lack of sponsorship for fours here, couldn't they be the Betamax Quadruple or something like that? It's another six to end the over, Hayden slapping a by now thoroughly red-faced Kallis over cover.
6th over: Chennai 68-0 (Hayden 45 Patel 21)Vinay Kumar is into the attack. No, no me neither. Patel steps down the pitch to the first ball and slaps two runs over mid-on. "Gilbert Jessop must have hit quite a few DLF MAXIMUMS (though they were probably DLF MAXIMA) in his time" muses Gary Naylor. Only three of them in Tests, surprisingly enough. Give me Gimblett any day, or perhaps Wellard. In fact I'd back an all-time Somerset Twenty20 team to take on any side you'd care to name. With our Vic's off-breaks being a quite crucial component, of course.
7th over: Chennai 77-0 (Hayden 53 Patel 21)"Thanks for that Jacques" chuckles KP as he chucks Virat Kohli the ball. Hayden hooks four runs through fine leg, then steers four more through third man. That's fifty for Hayden, from 22 balls. "The mid-innings advert break is much more cynical and seditious than spraying a logo on the pitch or any other form of sponsorship." grumbles Robin Hazlehurst, "Logos pretend to be nothing more than commercialism and are at least honest in that, they don't claim to offer tactical input, and crucially they don't really interfere with the game, unlike a random and useless pause. When something interrupts the game while claiming to offer it a tactical boost, that is really cynical."
8th over: Chennai 85-0 (Hayden 54 Patel 22)Kumble is into the attack, his first ball disappearing down the leg side for four wides. That aside Kumble looks an entirely different class to everyone else we've seen bowl today. But then he is currently the proud owner of a purple baseball cap, bestowed on the tournament's leading wicket-taker in a shameless rip-off the Tour de France's iconic yellow jersey.
9th over: Chennai 97-0 (Hayden 58 Patel 27)Kallis is back into the attack, each batsman gliding a single to third man from his first two balls. Four leg byes follow. Boy oh boy that red uniform really doesn't flatter Kallis at all. Frankly, the man looks fat. Patel cuts four behind point.
10th over: Chennai 105-0 (Hayden 64 Patel 30)Hayden wallops a lofted drive over cover, and, a little bizarrely, the brass band in the stands breaks into a rendition of I Would Give Anything I Own by Ken Boothe. Hayden sweeps four more from Kumble, and that takes us into the "RH White's Lemonade seven-minute mid-innings tactical re-alignment break". KP's Imperial Stormtroopers are being taken apart here, in especially ugly fashion, by the seemingly unstoppable Matty Hayden.
WICKET! Patel 30 b Pietersen WICKET! Hayden run out 65 (11th over: Chennai 108-2 Raina 0 Dhoni 0)Ever the egotist, Pietersen brings himself on and gets Patel's wicket with his first ball, slipping an off-break through the gate and clattering the stumps before Patel was even really ready to receive the ball. Suresh Raina is in. And Matty Hayden is out. Run out in fact, going after a stupidly quick single. Well there you have it. KP's "RH White's Lemonade seven-minute mid-innings tactical re-alignment break" obviously went something like this: "look, fellas, I'll bring myself on and then we'll bowl them out, OK?". MS Dhoni is in.
12th over: Chennai 111-2 (Raina 3 Dhoni 2)"Why has Jesse Ryder been dropped?" asks George Wright, "Isn't he the future of Twenty20?" No, no, he's the future of booze-addled squandered talents. "Could I be the 1057th Bristol-Bath continuum resident to query whether or not your motoring transgression took place in Trescothick Close?" asks Michael Hatcher, "Banger is a the local sleb, worthy of an eponymous street." Indeed he is, he still turns out for Keynsham CC every now and then (along with his father). Surely though it's time for Bill Bailey Avenue?
13th over: Chennai 116-2 (Raina 5 Dhoni 3)KP continues, and gets away with it too as the batsmen are temporarily trading in singles rather than swipes.
14th over: Chennai 129-2 (Raina 10 Dhoni 11)Ross Taylor is into the attack to ply some, well, what is he plying exactly? Off breaks apparently. Ouch. He didn't get much turn on that one, chiefly because he failed to land it on the strip. It was a full toss, which Dhoni clouted over cover for six.
15th over: Chennai 135-2 (Raina 12 Dhoni 14)Unbelievably the entire second-floor toilet block at GU Towers is "out of order". How can an entire block be out of order? What the hell is happening in there? Eitherway this is getting deeply uncomfortable. Steyn shells the simplest of catches at deep backward square, setting himself underneath a slog from Raina and spilling the ball from his grasp even as his teammates were starting to celebrate the wicket.
WICKET! Dhoni 16 c Bishnoi b Kumar (16th over: Chennai 144-3 (Raina 21 Flintoff 0)Praveen Kumar is back on, but his first ball is a little too wide and Raina larrups a six over point with a hard-swung cut shot. Dhoni is out moments later though, caught at mid-on. Here's Fred.
17th over: Chennai 151-3 (Raina 22 Flintoff 6)Deliciously, KP has brought himself on to bowl at Fred. And we all assumed it would be the other way around. Flintoff prods tentatively at the first ball, and nudges the next away to leg. Raina does likewise, and Flintoff then pulls Pietersen around through square leg for four.
18th over: Chennai 158-3 (Raina 23 Flintoff 11)Dale Steyn returns and makes Fred look utterly amateur with his first ball, which holds up and slides away past the outside edge of a straight drive. Flintoff throws his bat at the next delivery too, slicing an edge through third man for four. Flintoff clips Steyn hard to point, where Pietersen fields and fires in a return throw that fizzes past the stumps.
WICKET! Raina 28 c Kohli b Kumar (19th over: Chennai 165-4 (Flintoff 13 Morkel 0)My favourite email of the day yet. Sorry, that should read "my Relentless Energy Supreme email of the day" comes from Pete Obee: "To counter the ghastly 'Citi moment of success' the IPL shills are forced to trumpet, how about using 'HBOS moment of failure' to describe a cravenly poor delivery or inept drop (ie Steyn)?" Raina drops down onto one knee and slaps four through mid-wicket. Flintoff, still struggling to make clean contact with the ball, slices a slower ball over mid-off for a single. Raina falls to the final ball, caught at long-on attempting to clear the rope. He didn't, quite, but was caught instead.
WICKET! Morkel 5 b Steyn (20th over: Chennai 179-4) (Flintoff 22)The final over of the innings opens with another DLF Maximum - I take a peculiarly masochistic pain in using that depressing phrase in full - from Flintoff, thumped over cow corner. Morkel forces the next ball past point for four and then uppercuts a single through to Uthappa. Umpire Jerling calls a wide, provoking an angry outburst from Steyn, "a bit of 'how's your father?' between Steyn and the umpire" suggests the commentator. I think he may have got a bit confused with his clichés there. The final ball is a yorker which clean bowls Morkel. and that leaves Bangalore 180 to make to win. Flintoff finishes with 22 from 13 balls, while KP took an unlikely 1-14 from his three overs.
Bangalore Innings
WICKET! Kumar 0 b Gony (1st over: Bangalore 5-1 (Uthappa 0 Kallis 4) need 180Manpreet Gony, highly impressive in last year's competition, opens the attack. Amusingly Bangalore have pushed a pinch-hitter, Praveen Kumar, up to open the innings. And it's a move that will surely be a strong contender for the "Aunt Bessie's Yorkshire Puddings Tactical Blunder Of The Day" award, as he has been bowled for a duck by the third ball he faced. Kallis is in, and off zero with a gorgeous cover drive that races away across the turf for four.
2nd over: Bangalore 14-1 (Uthappa 0 Kallis 14) need 180The wonderfully named Lakshimpathy Balajii takes the second over. And that is another delightful shot from Kallis, knocking away a half-volley through long-on every inch the picture of a knocking the top off a thistle with his walking stick, as John Arlott once said of Clive Lloyd. The next ball is worse still, and Kallis whips it away through backward square for four more.
3rd over: Bangalore 25-1 (Uthappa 1 Kallis 18) need 180Kallis is catching light here, crashing a cut square past point for four more with a showman's flourish. "I hope this IPL gets a huge amount of coverage, then perhaps somebody somewhere will realise FLINTOFF CAN'T BAT," says Paul Franklin, just possibly pursuing some kind of private agenda. Four more from Kallis, driven hard through cover. A wide provides Bangalore's first run from a source other than Kallis's big broad bat. Gony pus him back in his place with a bouncer that thuds into his shoulder.
4th over: Bangalore 31-1 (Uthappa 5 Kallis 18) need 180"Slave to corporatism that I am," opens Tom Hopkins, "I felt compelled to google (other search engines are available) DLF to see exactly what sort of maximum we were dealing with. I'd like to think they were publicising the Disabled Living Foundation, but looking further down the list it seems more likely they're taking the Rupee from some bricklayers." Uthappa eases four through cover off the gentlest of looseners from Albie Morkel. Bangalore now need 149 from 96 balls.
5th over: Bangalore 40-1 (Uthappa 11 Kallis 23) need 180The tick tock of singles isn't going to win this for Bangalore, which may be why Uthappa has decided to hoick that last delivery from outside off stump up and over to cow corner for four. Gony gives away a wide attempting a slower ball out of the the back of his hand.
WICKET! Kallis 24 LBW Morkel (6th over: Bangalore 46-2 (Uthappa 18 Taylor 1) need 180A costly error from Kallis, walking across his stumps ans playing too late on a full delivery from Morkel, who celebrates the ensuing LBW with a whoop of aggressive intent. Ross Taylor comes to the crease now, though you'd really have thought that they'd want that man Pietersen in sooner rather than later.
WICKET! Taylor 1 c & b Flintoff (7th over: Bangalore 48-3 (Uthappa 19 Pietersen 0) need 180Flintoff is into the attack for the first time, and he promptly has Uthappa ducking under a vicious bouncer. He's bowling fast, straight and short, and, as is so often the case, he's all but impossible to score off. In the end Taylor loses concentration through his frustration, and slaps a catch high into the night air. Flintoff takes it himself, and celebrates by volleying the ball away towards cover. Pietersen is in at last, and you have to say that until he's out the match is far from over, but all the same the 132 his side need from 78 balls - 42 of them to be bowled by a combination of Murali and Flintoff - is a stiff ask even for him.
WICKET! Pietersen 0 LBW Muralitharan WICKET! Uthappa 20 st Dhoni b Muralitharan (8th over: Bangalore 51-5 Dravid 0 Kohli 0) need 180Here's Murali and he's got Pietersen for a golden duck! Ooops. It was a lovely ball, from around the wicket, biting and coming back in to hit the pad in front of middle stump. KP is far from happy about it. He's got another one! What an over from Murali this is! The doosra does for Uthappa, spitting past his outside edge and into Dhoni's gloves, allowing a sharp stumping.
9th over: Bangalore 52-5 (Dravid 1 Kohli 1) need 180Ronnie Irani is providing some of the very worst cricket commentary it has ever been my sorry pleasure to hear. I'm not even going sully the page by repeating it for your displeasure. Flintoff continues, each dot ball he delivers only reinforcing the impression that this contest is very much over. Hayden has stolen the orange hat bestowed on the tournament's current leading run-scorer from Rahul Dravid, and is standing smugly at slip with it atop his head (which, to be fair, is probably the best place for it. A great over from Flintoff.
10th over: Bangalore 56-5 (Dravid 3 Kohli 4) need 180Just eight runs from the last three overs, which will give Chennai plenty to think about during the, umm, strategic break. "What should we do boss?""Hit it."
WICKET! Kohli 11 c Badrinath b Sharma 11th over: Bangalore 66-6 (Dravid 5 Bishnoi 0) need 180
Suitably refreshed, Chennai have decided to ( / been instructed by their IPL overlords) to make a game of it by bringing on Joginder Sharma. Dravid pulls his first ball straight into umpire Taufel's foot and square leg. Taufel grins, holding back the tears. Kohli picks the next delivery up off his ankles and away over deep backward square for a six. Enticed by the thrill of his first DLF Maximum of the innings, Kohli tries to hit another off the next ball. He doesn't succeed, but rather holes out to mid-on instead.
WICKET! Bishnoi 0 c Balajii b Muralitharan (12th over: Bangalore 66-7 (Dravid 9 Kumar 1) need 180 and a minor miracleBishnoi's batting contribution on his debut amounts to one ball, which he drives accurately into the hands of long-on. He tucks his bat under his arm and trots off. Seems like a nice boy. The commentators have just reminded us that the umpires are taking notes in every match with a view to judging which team will be awarded the Fly Kingfisher Good Sportsmanship prize. I kid you not.
WICKET! Kumar 2 c Hayden b Balajii 13th over: Bangalore 78-8 (Dravid 12 Steyn 0) need 180 and a stiff drinkKumar comes and goes for just two, clipping a catch straight to Matthew Hayden at mid-wicket. Dravid, clearly a little sickened by the shambles surrounding him, belts four through the leg side.
WICKET! Steyn 0 run out Raina (14th over: Bangalore 78-9 (Dravid 12 Kumble 0) need 180 and a new teamSteyn is doesn't linger to find out whether the umpire thinks he is out or not, but goes ahead and jogs off the pitch, knowing full well that however thin the margins may have been the idiocy of the run itself fully merited the dismissal. Kumble is in as last man, one of the few occasions in the history of cricket, surely, when the no11 has a Test century to his name.
WICKET! Dravid 20 c Flintoff b Balajii 16th over: Bangalore 87 (Kumble 1) need 180 and at least three wishesFlintoff returns, and Dravid cuts four superfluous runs away behind point. The last thing this game needs now is a tenth-wicket stand that lasts five overs. OK, the last thing I need now is a tenth-wicket stand that lasts five overs. I need to hotfoot it to Paddington to catch a train West to begin my re-education. Dravid should do the decent thing and get out. Ah, I always thought he was a nice chap. He is out, caught by Flintoff at deep backward square. The game is up! Chennai win by 92 runs, and Pietersen and his side have, frankly, has been rather humiliated
Over by Over commentry
Chennai Innings
1st over: Chenn
ai 9-0 (Hayden 7 Patel 1)Hayden and Patel, possibly the greatest little-and-large double act since Little and Large, open the innings, with Praveen Kumar taking the first over. "I'm still struggling to get interested in this whole IPL thing. I think the starry line ups actually make it worse, all those famous names randomly thrown together just puts me in mind of a testimonial." Tom Hopkins, I know just what you mean, that's why the rabid crowds at last year's games were so important, because they added the thing a sense of genuine import. Patel pushes the first run away to extra cover, and Hayden then squirts three thin runs through mid-wicket. A leg bye puts him back on strike and he cuts the last ball for four through cover. We immediately cut away to a Lynx advert.2nd over: Chennai 15-0 (Hayden 7 Patel 4)And at the other end, Dale Steyn. Patel swings wildly at the first ball, and slices away an inside edge for two. A single and a wide trickle the score onwards. Hayden clumps a really bad shot - he was aiming through cover - over backward square for two. Here's Harkarn Sumal: "We went to watch Warwickshire vs Somerset at Edgbaston yesterday. Apart from the sunburn (really suffering today), there was more than could have been expected in common with the "spectacle" you're "guiding" us through. Despite the fact that there were only about two thousand people sprinkled around the place we had booming music (courtesy of the Indian wedding reception taking place in a hospitality suite) a couple of South Africans whacking sixes and making mincemeat of Warwickshire's inexperienced attack whilst razzing along at about six an over, and some serious corporate sponsorship.
"Somerset's players were sporting a natty sweater with the logo of "Blackacre Farm Eggs" on their backs. This was pipped in the chuckle stakes by the sight of Teeny Tiny Tim Ambrose in his Warwickshire garb, with the word "Gulliver" splatted across his chest, offering a Brobdingnagian chortle to the roasting spectators and a small increase in profile for a local travel agent."
3rd over: Chennai 28-0 (Hayden 16 Patel 9)Patel clips four through long-on, the batsmen trade singles and Kumar then switches around the wicket. Much good it does him. Patel knocks away another single. And the last ball is a full toss, which Hayden thrashes over square leg for a DLF MAXIMUM! That's a six, for those of you who aren't fluent in the steaming BS that is the IPL's lingo.
4th over: Chennai 36-0 (Hayden 17 Patel 17)It's another six. Patel playing a powerful pick up stroke over the leg side. Steyn ends the over with a yorker, which Hayden chops into the floor and then turns into a quick single.
5th over: Chennai 56-0 (Hayden 36 Patel 18)Kallis comes on for a bowl, and is immediately cut through extra cover for four by Hayden. The second ball is swatted around the corner for four more. The third ball is guided through backward point for the third straight four. The IPL are surely missing a trick in the lack of sponsorship for fours here, couldn't they be the Betamax Quadruple or something like that? It's another six to end the over, Hayden slapping a by now thoroughly red-faced Kallis over cover.
6th over: Chennai 68-0 (Hayden 45 Patel 21)Vinay Kumar is into the attack. No, no me neither. Patel steps down the pitch to the first ball and slaps two runs over mid-on. "Gilbert Jessop must have hit quite a few DLF MAXIMUMS (though they were probably DLF MAXIMA) in his time" muses Gary Naylor. Only three of them in Tests, surprisingly enough. Give me Gimblett any day, or perhaps Wellard. In fact I'd back an all-time Somerset Twenty20 team to take on any side you'd care to name. With our Vic's off-breaks being a quite crucial component, of course.
7th over: Chennai 77-0 (Hayden 53 Patel 21)"Thanks for that Jacques" chuckles KP as he chucks Virat Kohli the ball. Hayden hooks four runs through fine leg, then steers four more through third man. That's fifty for Hayden, from 22 balls. "The mid-innings advert break is much more cynical and seditious than spraying a logo on the pitch or any other form of sponsorship." grumbles Robin Hazlehurst, "Logos pretend to be nothing more than commercialism and are at least honest in that, they don't claim to offer tactical input, and crucially they don't really interfere with the game, unlike a random and useless pause. When something interrupts the game while claiming to offer it a tactical boost, that is really cynical."
8th over: Chennai 85-0 (Hayden 54 Patel 22)Kumble is into the attack, his first ball disappearing down the leg side for four wides. That aside Kumble looks an entirely different class to everyone else we've seen bowl today. But then he is currently the proud owner of a purple baseball cap, bestowed on the tournament's leading wicket-taker in a shameless rip-off the Tour de France's iconic yellow jersey.
9th over: Chennai 97-0 (Hayden 58 Patel 27)Kallis is back into the attack, each batsman gliding a single to third man from his first two balls. Four leg byes follow. Boy oh boy that red uniform really doesn't flatter Kallis at all. Frankly, the man looks fat. Patel cuts four behind point.
10th over: Chennai 105-0 (Hayden 64 Patel 30)Hayden wallops a lofted drive over cover, and, a little bizarrely, the brass band in the stands breaks into a rendition of I Would Give Anything I Own by Ken Boothe. Hayden sweeps four more from Kumble, and that takes us into the "RH White's Lemonade seven-minute mid-innings tactical re-alignment break". KP's Imperial Stormtroopers are being taken apart here, in especially ugly fashion, by the seemingly unstoppable Matty Hayden.
WICKET! Patel 30 b Pietersen WICKET! Hayden run out 65 (11th over: Chennai 108-2 Raina 0 Dhoni 0)Ever the egotist, Pietersen brings himself on and gets Patel's wicket with his first ball, slipping an off-break through the gate and clattering the stumps before Patel was even really ready to receive the ball. Suresh Raina is in. And Matty Hayden is out. Run out in fact, going after a stupidly quick single. Well there you have it. KP's "RH White's Lemonade seven-minute mid-innings tactical re-alignment break" obviously went something like this: "look, fellas, I'll bring myself on and then we'll bowl them out, OK?". MS Dhoni is in.
12th over: Chennai 111-2 (Raina 3 Dhoni 2)"Why has Jesse Ryder been dropped?" asks George Wright, "Isn't he the future of Twenty20?" No, no, he's the future of booze-addled squandered talents. "Could I be the 1057th Bristol-Bath continuum resident to query whether or not your motoring transgression took place in Trescothick Close?" asks Michael Hatcher, "Banger is a the local sleb, worthy of an eponymous street." Indeed he is, he still turns out for Keynsham CC every now and then (along with his father). Surely though it's time for Bill Bailey Avenue?
13th over: Chennai 116-2 (Raina 5 Dhoni 3)KP continues, and gets away with it too as the batsmen are temporarily trading in singles rather than swipes.
14th over: Chennai 129-2 (Raina 10 Dhoni 11)Ross Taylor is into the attack to ply some, well, what is he plying exactly? Off breaks apparently. Ouch. He didn't get much turn on that one, chiefly because he failed to land it on the strip. It was a full toss, which Dhoni clouted over cover for six.
15th over: Chennai 135-2 (Raina 12 Dhoni 14)Unbelievably the entire second-floor toilet block at GU Towers is "out of order". How can an entire block be out of order? What the hell is happening in there? Eitherway this is getting deeply uncomfortable. Steyn shells the simplest of catches at deep backward square, setting himself underneath a slog from Raina and spilling the ball from his grasp even as his teammates were starting to celebrate the wicket.
WICKET! Dhoni 16 c Bishnoi b Kumar (16th over: Chennai 144-3 (Raina 21 Flintoff 0)Praveen Kumar is back on, but his first ball is a little too wide and Raina larrups a six over point with a hard-swung cut shot. Dhoni is out moments later though, caught at mid-on. Here's Fred.
17th over: Chennai 151-3 (Raina 22 Flintoff 6)Deliciously, KP has brought himself on to bowl at Fred. And we all assumed it would be the other way around. Flintoff prods tentatively at the first ball, and nudges the next away to leg. Raina does likewise, and Flintoff then pulls Pietersen around through square leg for four.
18th over: Chennai 158-3 (Raina 23 Flintoff 11)Dale Steyn returns and makes Fred look utterly amateur with his first ball, which holds up and slides away past the outside edge of a straight drive. Flintoff throws his bat at the next delivery too, slicing an edge through third man for four. Flintoff clips Steyn hard to point, where Pietersen fields and fires in a return throw that fizzes past the stumps.
WICKET! Raina 28 c Kohli b Kumar (19th over: Chennai 165-4 (Flintoff 13 Morkel 0)My favourite email of the day yet. Sorry, that should read "my Relentless Energy Supreme email of the day" comes from Pete Obee: "To counter the ghastly 'Citi moment of success' the IPL shills are forced to trumpet, how about using 'HBOS moment of failure' to describe a cravenly poor delivery or inept drop (ie Steyn)?" Raina drops down onto one knee and slaps four through mid-wicket. Flintoff, still struggling to make clean contact with the ball, slices a slower ball over mid-off for a single. Raina falls to the final ball, caught at long-on attempting to clear the rope. He didn't, quite, but was caught instead.
WICKET! Morkel 5 b Steyn (20th over: Chennai 179-4) (Flintoff 22)The final over of the innings opens with another DLF Maximum - I take a peculiarly masochistic pain in using that depressing phrase in full - from Flintoff, thumped over cow corner. Morkel forces the next ball past point for four and then uppercuts a single through to Uthappa. Umpire Jerling calls a wide, provoking an angry outburst from Steyn, "a bit of 'how's your father?' between Steyn and the umpire" suggests the commentator. I think he may have got a bit confused with his clichés there. The final ball is a yorker which clean bowls Morkel. and that leaves Bangalore 180 to make to win. Flintoff finishes with 22 from 13 balls, while KP took an unlikely 1-14 from his three overs.
Bangalore Innings
WICKET! Kumar 0 b Gony (1st over: Bangalore 5-1 (Uthappa 0 Kallis 4) need 180Manpreet Gony, highly impressive in last year's competition, opens the attack. Amusingly Bangalore have pushed a pinch-hitter, Praveen Kumar, up to open the innings. And it's a move that will surely be a strong contender for the "Aunt Bessie's Yorkshire Puddings Tactical Blunder Of The Day" award, as he has been bowled for a duck by the third ball he faced. Kallis is in, and off zero with a gorgeous cover drive that races away across the turf for four.
2nd over: Bangalore 14-1 (Uthappa 0 Kallis 14) need 180The wonderfully named Lakshimpathy Balajii takes the second over. And that is another delightful shot from Kallis, knocking away a half-volley through long-on every inch the picture of a knocking the top off a thistle with his walking stick, as John Arlott once said of Clive Lloyd. The next ball is worse still, and Kallis whips it away through backward square for four more.
3rd over: Bangalore 25-1 (Uthappa 1 Kallis 18) need 180Kallis is catching light here, crashing a cut square past point for four more with a showman's flourish. "I hope this IPL gets a huge amount of coverage, then perhaps somebody somewhere will realise FLINTOFF CAN'T BAT," says Paul Franklin, just possibly pursuing some kind of private agenda. Four more from Kallis, driven hard through cover. A wide provides Bangalore's first run from a source other than Kallis's big broad bat. Gony pus him back in his place with a bouncer that thuds into his shoulder.
4th over: Bangalore 31-1 (Uthappa 5 Kallis 18) need 180"Slave to corporatism that I am," opens Tom Hopkins, "I felt compelled to google (other search engines are available) DLF to see exactly what sort of maximum we were dealing with. I'd like to think they were publicising the Disabled Living Foundation, but looking further down the list it seems more likely they're taking the Rupee from some bricklayers." Uthappa eases four through cover off the gentlest of looseners from Albie Morkel. Bangalore now need 149 from 96 balls.
5th over: Bangalore 40-1 (Uthappa 11 Kallis 23) need 180The tick tock of singles isn't going to win this for Bangalore, which may be why Uthappa has decided to hoick that last delivery from outside off stump up and over to cow corner for four. Gony gives away a wide attempting a slower ball out of the the back of his hand.
WICKET! Kallis 24 LBW Morkel (6th over: Bangalore 46-2 (Uthappa 18 Taylor 1) need 180A costly error from Kallis, walking across his stumps ans playing too late on a full delivery from Morkel, who celebrates the ensuing LBW with a whoop of aggressive intent. Ross Taylor comes to the crease now, though you'd really have thought that they'd want that man Pietersen in sooner rather than later.
WICKET! Taylor 1 c & b Flintoff (7th over: Bangalore 48-3 (Uthappa 19 Pietersen 0) need 180Flintoff is into the attack for the first time, and he promptly has Uthappa ducking under a vicious bouncer. He's bowling fast, straight and short, and, as is so often the case, he's all but impossible to score off. In the end Taylor loses concentration through his frustration, and slaps a catch high into the night air. Flintoff takes it himself, and celebrates by volleying the ball away towards cover. Pietersen is in at last, and you have to say that until he's out the match is far from over, but all the same the 132 his side need from 78 balls - 42 of them to be bowled by a combination of Murali and Flintoff - is a stiff ask even for him.
WICKET! Pietersen 0 LBW Muralitharan WICKET! Uthappa 20 st Dhoni b Muralitharan (8th over: Bangalore 51-5 Dravid 0 Kohli 0) need 180Here's Murali and he's got Pietersen for a golden duck! Ooops. It was a lovely ball, from around the wicket, biting and coming back in to hit the pad in front of middle stump. KP is far from happy about it. He's got another one! What an over from Murali this is! The doosra does for Uthappa, spitting past his outside edge and into Dhoni's gloves, allowing a sharp stumping.
9th over: Bangalore 52-5 (Dravid 1 Kohli 1) need 180Ronnie Irani is providing some of the very worst cricket commentary it has ever been my sorry pleasure to hear. I'm not even going sully the page by repeating it for your displeasure. Flintoff continues, each dot ball he delivers only reinforcing the impression that this contest is very much over. Hayden has stolen the orange hat bestowed on the tournament's current leading run-scorer from Rahul Dravid, and is standing smugly at slip with it atop his head (which, to be fair, is probably the best place for it. A great over from Flintoff.
10th over: Bangalore 56-5 (Dravid 3 Kohli 4) need 180Just eight runs from the last three overs, which will give Chennai plenty to think about during the, umm, strategic break. "What should we do boss?""Hit it."
WICKET! Kohli 11 c Badrinath b Sharma 11th over: Bangalore 66-6 (Dravid 5 Bishnoi 0) need 180
Suitably refreshed, Chennai have decided to ( / been instructed by their IPL overlords) to make a game of it by bringing on Joginder Sharma. Dravid pulls his first ball straight into umpire Taufel's foot and square leg. Taufel grins, holding back the tears. Kohli picks the next delivery up off his ankles and away over deep backward square for a six. Enticed by the thrill of his first DLF Maximum of the innings, Kohli tries to hit another off the next ball. He doesn't succeed, but rather holes out to mid-on instead.
WICKET! Bishnoi 0 c Balajii b Muralitharan (12th over: Bangalore 66-7 (Dravid 9 Kumar 1) need 180 and a minor miracleBishnoi's batting contribution on his debut amounts to one ball, which he drives accurately into the hands of long-on. He tucks his bat under his arm and trots off. Seems like a nice boy. The commentators have just reminded us that the umpires are taking notes in every match with a view to judging which team will be awarded the Fly Kingfisher Good Sportsmanship prize. I kid you not.
WICKET! Kumar 2 c Hayden b Balajii 13th over: Bangalore 78-8 (Dravid 12 Steyn 0) need 180 and a stiff drinkKumar comes and goes for just two, clipping a catch straight to Matthew Hayden at mid-wicket. Dravid, clearly a little sickened by the shambles surrounding him, belts four through the leg side.
WICKET! Steyn 0 run out Raina (14th over: Bangalore 78-9 (Dravid 12 Kumble 0) need 180 and a new teamSteyn is doesn't linger to find out whether the umpire thinks he is out or not, but goes ahead and jogs off the pitch, knowing full well that however thin the margins may have been the idiocy of the run itself fully merited the dismissal. Kumble is in as last man, one of the few occasions in the history of cricket, surely, when the no11 has a Test century to his name.
WICKET! Dravid 20 c Flintoff b Balajii 16th over: Bangalore 87 (Kumble 1) need 180 and at least three wishesFlintoff returns, and Dravid cuts four superfluous runs away behind point. The last thing this game needs now is a tenth-wicket stand that lasts five overs. OK, the last thing I need now is a tenth-wicket stand that lasts five overs. I need to hotfoot it to Paddington to catch a train West to begin my re-education. Dravid should do the decent thing and get out. Ah, I always thought he was a nice chap. He is out, caught by Flintoff at deep backward square. The game is up! Chennai win by 92 runs, and Pietersen and his side have, frankly, has been rather humiliated
