Durban, South Africa: The first semifinal of the Champions League Twenty20 between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings produced cracking environment defying the cold and wetness produced by the rains at the start of the match. While Raina and Vijay cracked the bowlers, Kumble’s anger was heating the environment, finally Steyn had to be sent to hospital.
CL Twenty20 Semifinal CSK Vs RCB: Scorecard and Match Facts
Raina and Vijay steer CSK
Murali Vijay started attacking, Suresh Raina opened a bag of firecrackers in the field. Their 2nd wicket partnership of 81 runs came in just 48 balls. Vijay was the 2nd victim of Vinay Kumar. But Raina continued till the end scoring the highest individual score of the tournament. With 6 sixes and 5 fours he remained not out on 94 runs, single handedly taking the game far away from RCBs reach. CSK made 174/4 in 17 overs of the rain reduced semifinal. Vijay became the highest run scorer of the tournament, while Raina became the third highest scorer of the tournament.
Kumble Fumes and Shows Frustration on Juniors
Irony of sorts was produced by the RCB captain Kumble. With the CSK run rate reaching 9 per over, and batsmen hitting runs at will his disappointment was further added by some missed chances. Loss of Steyn while taking the catch of Hussey was further trouble for him. His anger termed into clear frustation when instead of praising Manish Pandey for saving a clear six by an excellent effort with his left hand, he was fuming at him for not taking the catch. Unfortunately, when Dravid could not make an effort to take an easy catch, he has to mince his words, despite disappointment of not getting a wicket. He finished wicketless giving 38 runs in 4 overs, especially when Raina milked him for 17 runs in his last over.
Steyn Sent to Hospital
In the 4th over of the game, Steyn took perhaps the catch of the tournament to dismiss Michael Hussey of the bowling of Vinay Kumar, when CSK was just speeding up. In the process he banged his head on the ground. The force of fall was brutal on the back side of his head. Still he did not lose the ball slip out of his hand, despite himself getting almost unconscious. He was later taken to the hospital for scan. He could not bowl a single ball.
Leave a Reply