Ganguly-led KKR beat Bangalore again

Owing to rain, the match was reduced to a 16-overs-a-side match.

KKR (Moham)made three Ch(opr)anges to their playing eleven – Hafeez, Debabrata Das and Ajit Agarkar made way for Twenty20 debutant Aakash, Tatenda Taibu and Murali Kartik.

RCB made four changes to their playing eleven – Wasim Jaffer, Jacques Kallis, Misbah-ul-Haq and Devraj Patil made way for Jagadeesh Arunkumar, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Mark Boucher and Vinay Kumar.

On winning the toss, Sourav Ganguly, KKR’s skipper and the player of the match, chose to bat.

The first Powerplay of KKR’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 41, and lost a couple of wickets.

Chopra, who faced five balls, scored a couple. Thirteen balls into the match, he was trappeD(a)leg before wicket by Steyn, who broke the nine-run stand.

Brad Hodge, whose 11-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 10. Eight balls later, he was caught by Vinay. Zaheer Khan broke the 11-run stand.

The third-wicket pair put on 26. Ganguly, whose 22-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 20. Twenty-four balls later, Cameron White ran him out.

KKR put on 50 off 8.1 overs (49 balls). RCB had conceded a couple of extras at that point.

The fourth-wicket pair put on 18. David Hussey, whose 12-ball innings included a boundary and three sixes, scored 26. Nine balls after Ganguly’s dismissal, Steyn and Boucher ran him out.

Taibu, whose 12-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 15. Fourteen balls later, he was caught by Boucher. Steyn broke the 16-run stand.

Laxmi Ratan, whose nine-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 11. Three ballS(huk)later, Steyn broke the eight-run stand.

KKR put on 100 off 13.5 overs (83 balls). RCB had conceded four extras at that point.

Wriddhiman Saha, whose innings included a boundary and a six, scored 17. He was unbea‘ten’.

Kartik, whose 13-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 17. Twenty-three balls later, he was caught by Praveen Kumar, who broke the 34-run stand.

Umar Gul, who faced a couple of balls, scored half-a-dozen. His runs came by way of a six. He was unbeaten.

RCB eventually conceded five extras at that point. KKR scored 129 for the loss of seven wickets off 16 extras.

Anil Kumble and Vinay bowled three wicketless overs apiece. While the former conceded 21, the latter conceded 15.

Praveen and Khan bowled three overs each, picking up a wicket apiece. While the former conceded 36, the latter conceded 27.

Steyn, who bowled four overs, conceded 27. He picked up three scalps.

The first Powerplay of RCB’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 35, and lost a couple of wickets.

Although his innings included a boundary, Chanderpaul had no reason to be in seventh heaven – he scored 11. Twenty-one balls into the chase, he was caught by Kartik. Sharma broke the 17-run stand.

The second-wicket pair put on 15. Arunkumar, whose 17-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 22. Eight balls later, Hodge ran him out.

RCB put on 50 off nine overs (54 balls). KKR had conceded five extras at that point.

Rahul Dravid, RCB’s skipper, faced 11 balls, scoring just five. Twenty-six balls later, Ganguly broke the 19-run stand.

The fourth-wicket pair put on 45. White, whose 16-ball innings included three boundaries and a six, scored 30. Thirty balls after Dravid’s dismissal, Kartik ran him out.

RCB put on 100 off 14.2 overs (87 balls). KKR had conceded half-a-dozen extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded.

Boucher’s half-century – which included five boundaries and a six – came off 40 balls. He was unbeaten, as was Praveen, who faced a couple of balls, scoring four. His runs came by way of a boundary.

RCB, who scored 124 for the loss of four wickets off 16 overs, lost by five runs.

Shukla, who bowled a wicketless over, conceded 15.

Kartik, who bowled a couple of wicketless overs, conceded 24.

Gul and Ashok Dinda bowled three wicketless overs apiece. While the former conceded 30, the latter conceded 20.

Ganguly, who bowled three overs, had a reason to be in seventh heaven – he picked up a wicket, as did Sharma, who bowled four overs, conceding 25.