 Bangalore Royal Challengers win the battle of the vanquished
25th May 2008 21:03 IST
Agencies
The top order of the Bangalore Royal Challengers clicked in unison as Rahul Dravid's men chalked out a five-wicket win with one over to spare against lowly Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League battle between the laggards in Hyderabad today.
With this win, the Bangalore side avoided the ignominy of finishing last in the IPL, while the Deccan Chargers could not avoid the wooden spoon.
Chasing 166 to win, Jacques Kallis (31), Misbah-ul-Haq (34), Dravid (31), Cameron White (31 not out) and Balachandra Akhil (27 not out) came up with timely cameos as the side reached 171/5 in 19 overs.
Akhil smashed three sixes in the 19th over, bowled by Chamara Silva, en route to his unbeaten 27 off just seven balls to seal the issue.
Bangalore's reply got off to a poor start as Wasim Jaffer (5) fell early but Kallis and Misbah stemmed the rot, scoring at a lively rate. Misbah was more impressive of the two but like Kallis, who was run out, the Pakistani too could not convert the start and fell to Dwaraka Ravi Teja after a 28-ball 34 that included four boundaries and a six.
Next man in Dravid too looked in good nick as he went after the hosts bowlers and by the time he fell to Sanjay Bangar, the Bangalore captain had contributed 31 off 21 balls that kept the side right on course.
Down the order, White and Akhil completed the formality without much ado to carve out a win with one over to go.
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