Bangalore score a 'super' win to cruise into the finals of DLF IPL

The Challengers and Super Kings both had a great run coming into the semis.So it was truly a hard battle being fought among them.The tension,nervousness and excitement was visible on the teams.The toss was won by Jumbo Anil who was clear that he wanted to put Chennai into bat while the Super Kings too didn't complain much about it.Dhoni's boys were the true favorites in the match but challengers were a team which you couldn't underestimate.Hayden and Patel opened the account for the Super Kings.Parthiv started off things in style outscoring Hayden.Hayden made a slow start but was getting into his own.Chennai made a 50+ start in their 6 overs as usual but just when they were running away with the game Bangalore got the openers out.Dhoni and Raina saw off the remaining overs till the strategic time out.Chennai still looked set for about 160.Raina was getting his big shots in and he top edged one to lose his wicket.Dhoni fought hard for his runs and was held going for a lofted shot in trying to up the run rate ,wonderfully caught by Vinay Kumar.That was it for Chennai,irresponsible batting and their famed middle order failing,nothing was going right for them.Bangalore's disciplined attack restricted Chennai to a paltry 143.So Dhoni had to get his get his luck back to win this one.






Bangalore had a racy start going until they lost two quick wickets with Chennai bouncing back.Manish pandey played a few magical strokes with the most dependable Dravid.Lofted shots,straight drives,hooks and pull shots were dispatched to different parts of the ground.Dravid was giving great support to Manish and Bangalore couldn't have asked for anything better.By the end of ten overs they scored at a heavy pace which meant that they had to just get around 6 an over in the next ten.Muralidaran was the only lionhearted performer for Chennai in this big game.He bowled a masterly spell but the Super Kings needed now a miracle to scrape through this match.Though both Manish and Dravid got out soon,their middle order eased the nerves and won the game for Bangalore by 6 wickets.Manish Pandey won another Man of the Match award for his confident strokeful effort.The teams which ended up 7 and 8 last year are playing for 1st and 2nd spot in the table.This calls for a great final no less than the semifinals.Bangalore seems to have their noses ahead for the finals considering their momentum but Deccan too is a formidable opposition and will give a good run for its money.