Bangalore triumph in cracker

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A six from Saurabh Tiwary off the final ball of the innings saw Bangalore pull off an incredible chase and with it a six-wicket win over the Pune Warriors on Tuesday.

A six from Saurabh Tiwary off the final ball of the innings saw Bangalore pull off an incredible chase and with it a six-wicket win over the Pune Warriors on Tuesday.
Having earlier seen the Rajasthan Royals claim victory over the Deccan Chargers in the final over of their encounter, Bangalore went a step further by leaving it to the last delivery to seal a win.
After putting up an imposing total of 182 for six, Pune would have fancied their chances against a Royal Challengers outfit who have struggled thus far in the competition. However, Chris Gayle chose the perfect time to come to the party and set up the win with an innings of 81 off 48.
Adding to his half-century last week against the Super Kings, Gayle was in devastating form as his big hitting glossed over the early dismissals of Tillakaratne Dilshan (four) and Mayank Agarwal (nine). Even when Virat Kohli (16) was dismissed in 12th over with the score on 72, Gayle's scoring was enough to keep the Royal Challengers in with a sniff.
In fact, Kohli's dismissal was followed by a barrage of boundaries that elevated Bangalore's chances from that of a long shot to real possibility. Rahul Sharma was the unfortunate bowler who felt the brunt of Gayle's brutality as the West Indian bashed five consecutive sixes to take the required score from 107 off 48 balls to 76 from 42 balls.
Gayle added only nine more to his total before he was bowled by Ashish Nehra for 81, but if the Warriors thought they had ended Bangalore's charge they were sorely mistaken.
AB de Villiers (33 off 14 balls) and Saurabh Tiwary (36 off 23 balls) combined in an unbeaten partnership of 59 off just 26 balls to see the men in red and gold over the line.
However, they appeared to have lost their chance when Ashok Dinda conceded just seven off the penultimate over to leave Bangalore needing 22 off the final over. But a four and two sixes from de Villiers off Nehra laid the platform for Tiwary to take the game away. Needing three from the final delivery, Tiwary swung a maximum down the ground to send the home fans into ecstasy.
Earlier, a whirlwind innings of 69 from Robin Uthappa powered the Pune to a formidable total.
Jesse Ryder and Marlon Samuels, meanwhile, weighed in with 34 each, but the consistent fall of wickets prevented the visitors from producing a total that would have all but taken the game away from Bangalore.
Vinay Kumar proved the pick of the bowlers with figures of two for 34.

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