KKR vs RCB- 'The Finisher' nails it

29th April, 2009

KKR 139-6 (20.0 overs) lost to RCB 143-5 (19.5 overs)

On a day when Jeremy Coney tried to innovate the pitch report section of cricket broadcasting by getting a tribal warrior to wax eloquent about the texture of the soil in Afrikaan (or was that Swahili?), Mark Boucher went about business as usual.

Neurologists haven't yet ascertained whether scoring the winning runs in the greatest run chase in ODI history has permanently attuned Boucher's brain to relax when faced with a crisis in a run chase, but match winning evidence is hard to refute.

A flat six over long on, a full flick through midwicket for four and a legside whammy (the last two strokes being played in the final over) was executed to perfection as 'The Finisher' (a deserving nickname bestowed by his Proteas team mates after the epic Wanderers ODI) got us home to a long awaited second win of the tournament.

The Kolkata innings wasn't much to crow about, with Gayle swatting six boundaries on his way to an uncharacteristically slow 40 off 37 balls, doing no justice to the reputation he'd set for the 20-20 format with his blinding century in the first match of the T20 World Cup in 2007.

Van Wyk worked his way to a neat 43, but with four spinners sending down 15 overs for RCB, the innings went by in a flash and the scoreboard had registered just 139, an easy chase.

The match resembled for RCB a cake being baked perfectly till the 10th over of the second innings.  There was the breaking of the eggs (McCullum gone first ball to Pietersen) and the firm bond after mixing the flour and butter (Kumble's grip on the batsmen with 2/16 from 4 overs). Post the addition of the sugar syrup and placing the glob in the oven, the baking seemed to be on just right (69 for no loss in 11 overs in the chase).

But not unlike the times you sense the cake turning into a shade of brown it shouldn't have, Brad Hodge snapped up three wickets quick as the run rate took an expedition to the north.

The game intensified, going down to the last over with Boucher and Pandey left to score ten off Chris Gayle's fastish offspinners.

And as most close matches go, this one was lost by the Knight Riders on a frivolous error. With five runs off four balls required, Gayle failed to collect a ball cleanly and allowed Boucher to get back on strike. Big mistake.

A full toss on leg stump followed a ball later, and was greeted by a thank-you-very-much clang to the fence to seal the match.

Watch the nail biting last over here: