A last-ball six that won the game and a brutal unbeaten century have set the stage for a rousing finale when the knockout matches of the Twenty20 Champions League are played over the weekend.
Royal Challengers Bangalore surpassed a target of 215 set by South Australian Redbacks when Arun Karthik smashed the last ball from Daniel Christian over mid-wicket in the final league match. A day earlier, David Warner had cracked an unbeaten 135 off just 69 balls with eight sixes and 11 fours to help New South Wales Blues knock out defending champions Chennai Super Kings.
The two thrillers lit up a 10-team club tournament played over the past two weeks before half-empty stands in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai.
Now, Royal Challengers face New South Wales in the first semi-final in Bangalore today while English county side Somerset meet Mumbai Indians in Chennai a day later in the second semi-final.
Bangalore down Redbacks
Earlier, in the last league match, Bangalore witnessed a pulsating finish as the hosts overcame the Australian side by two wickets. Daniel Harris had scored an unbeaten 108 to take his side past the 200-mark but Tillakaratne Dilshan and Virat Kohli made sure the match went down to the last ball.
The pair put on 100 for the second wicket before wickets fell in quick succession to dent Banglaore’s hopes of reaching the last-four. With seven needed off two, the batsmen stole a bye with the wicket-keeper blasting the final delivery out of the ground to ensure the Indian Premier League team went through.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 7th, 2011.
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