Royals Ryde the Super K(Night)

It took 20 overs and one super over for the royals to register their first win in IPL 2.0. The two most uninspiring teams pulled out one of the most exciting matches of the IPL so far. Frankly after the high scoring Chennai Delhi game I wasn’t all excited about the clash of minnows, but the Royals pulled out a tie out of thin air and then Pathan blasted 16 from 4 balls in the super over. Last time around Gayle had blasted 25 in the super over against Vetori’s NZ. Super over is far more exciting than the bowl out in case of a tie in T20, as its far more challenging n exciting.

Spinners have always played a big role in T20’s; Mendis was no different, picked up key wickets of Smith and & well set Pathan. Scoring 42 of 21 balls Pathan gave Royals much needed momentum. Agarkar is one of the few bowlers who would never completes his quota of 10 overs in ODIs; the trend is following even in T20. Late fireworks from Raut took Royals to a defendable 150.

150 was a good total to defend on a Newlands ground, but no ground or total is big when Gayle starts swinging, he makes it look ridiculously easy. Runs looks easy from a set batsman’s bat, pitch and conditions only start to matter when you lose him. Dada marshaled the innings up until the penultimate over, after which drama started. 7 required from 6 only I team that could have lost it was RR, but the match ended in a tie, thanks to wonderful last over by the tornado Kamran Khan. Owe it to the team spirit or captain spirit, Royals have the knack of pulling out victories out of thin air. One has to feel for Ganguly who almost took KKR to victory.

It takes great courage & guts to hand over the super over to a rookie, but that's Shane Warne, he gets the best out of the ordinary. 15 runs was good target of 6 balls. KKR missed the trick by using Mendis, probably a fast bowler would have been a better choice against Pathan. Now KKR have lost 2 out of 2 in the presence of Gayle, I just wonder their fate after Gayle's departure. Buchanan has to quickly convert his theory into practice, right now they neither look Knights nor the Ryders.

Royals Ryde the Super K(Night)