RCB’s last ball win gave them the most needed impetus in IPL 5. Chris Gayle, Ab de Villiers and Saurabh Tiwary trump PWI in Match 21 of IPL 5. AB de Villiers and Saurabh Tiwary hit 21 off the final over, bowled by Nehra, to pull off an improbable win, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s first in four games.

IPL 2012: RCB pull off a stunner on last ball

Chasing 183 to win and considering the batting strength of Royal Challengers on home ground, the target apppeared not so difficult. But disciplined bowling by Warriors almost made it impossible. Royal Challengers Bangalore got a big shock when T Dilshan got out in the third over when the team score was just 7. But RCB still had hope as Gayle was firm on one end and was scoring runs with ease. Chris Gayle smashed eight sixes in his 81 to set up Royal Challengers Bangalore’s tense win against Pune Warriors. RCB needed 120 to win from their last 10 overs and the team was relying on Chris Gayle who scored 5 sixes in Sharma’s one over.

Just when the game was being shifted in RCB’s favour, Gayle was bowled by Nehra. AB de Villiers was the next batsmen in and he along with Tiwary took the team inches away from victory. RCB needed 28 to win from last 2 overs but Dinda bowled beautifully and gave just 7 runs in 19th over. RCB needed 21 to win from last over and AB de Villiers smashed a four followed by two sixes and on the last bowl Tiwary hit a six to get a superb win for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

At the start of match, Pune Warriors won the toss and elected to bat. RCB had won only one match from four and wanted desperately to pull off a win to spur their campaign in this edition. Pune had left out Murali Kartik to accommodate a seamer and Bangalore also left out their best bowler of the season, Muttiah Muralitharan, and brought in an all-rounder, Tillakaratne Dilshan. But Royal Challengers Bangalore, having lost their previous three games due to poor bowling, still ended up conceding more than nine runs an over.

Earlier, The dangerous Uthappa’s belligerent knock of 70 off 45 balls along with useful contributions from Jesse Ryder and Marlon Samuels helped Pune Warriors India set a challenging 183 for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Pune could have easily reached a 200 plus score, but Uthappa’s wicket and later Samuel’s turned things in favour of the home team.

Tags: Cricket, IPL 2012, IPL 5, Pune Warriors, RCB, Royal Challengers Bangalore