Virat Kohli avoided a repeat heartbreak of a nearly successful chase, making Royal Challengers Bangalore the first IPL team to have made it to a Champions League Twenty20 semi-final. After Anil Kumble's four overs for 13 runs and Alviro Petersen's wicket had kept the Lions to a below-par 159, Bangalore nearly messed up the chase, staying behind the rate for 16 overs, needing 43 off the last four.
Even though he had looked nervous until then, Kohli, after having run out Robin Uthappa, turned the game around, taking 18 off the 17th over, bowled by Ethan O'Reilly. An alert piece of running that resulted in a run-out ended up hurting a speeding Lions innings in their virtual quarter-final against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Vaughn van Jaarsveld's run-out proved to be the turning point. Lions went from 74 in eight overs to 144 in 19, pulled back by Kumble's four overs for 13 runs and Petersen's wicket. Robert Frylink then hit two sixes in the last over to keep the Lions in the contest.
Petersen and Van Jaarsveld were punishing Bangalore in a third-wicket stand before Van Jaarsveld slipped during a mix-up and was run out. That kick-started Bangalore's charge with the ball. Kumble was at the heart of Bangalore's comeback. He began with an over that went for just four, then introduced Kohli in an inspired move. Even though one over in between, bowled by Dillon du Preez, went for 10, it was clear Neil McKenzie was struggling to match the earlier run-rate, or one that was required for a challenging total.
In the four overs following that run-out, Petersen got to face just nine balls, and McKenzie scored just 15 off the other 15. The edginess pushed Petersen into a slog-sweep against Kumble. The predictable result was the uprooted off stump. Kumble and Kohli refused to release the choke-hold and the Lions' lower order crumbled. * Agency
