In a battle of nerves Bangalore emerged on top as Hyderabad once again stumbled in search of their elusive third win in the Indian Premier League. Chasing 166 Bangalore reached home with five wickets in hand and one over to spare on Sunday to register back to back wins and their fourth in the competition. The loss will be a big blow for Adam Gilchrists men who are now guaranteed to be the least successful team in the IPL 2 wins in 13 games. With 29 required off three overs the game was heading down to the wire but it ended with a comprehensive win for Bangalore at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium and the man who stole the thunder from his more accomplished Bangalore team mates was Balachandran Akhil who smashed a blitzkrieg 27 off just seven balls which had three sixes. Looking to finish off things in a jiffy Akhil ended matters when he hit three sixes in the 19th over bowled by Chamara Silva. Earlier Hyderabads deadly opening pair of Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs put on 101 for the first wicket but a batting collapse restricted them to 165 as the home side were bowled out in 19.4 overs and bangalores run chase was largely powered by Rahul Dravid 31 and Cameron White 31 not out. The duo put on 40 in just 28 balls to bring their side closer to the target after some useful contributions from Misbah-ul-Haq 34 and Jacques Kallis 31. All hopes were pinned on White after Dravid departed but Akhil proved to be Hyderabad’s nemesis. Bangalore had a sordid start as the Hyderabad pacers were at their accurate best. Chaminda Vaas RP Singh and Sanjay Bangar were mean and forced Bangalore on to the back-foot early through some economical overs. Wasim Jaffer departed early run out for five. Kallis and Misbah hung on for a while before the former was run out. The South Africa all-rounder who was injured while bowling was accompanied by a runner through out his knock and after clobbering six boundaries made his way back. Bangalore were in the hunt but just and when Misbahs heaved one into the hands of deep mid-wicket the visitors were in deep trouble with the asking rate climbing to more than eight. But victory was still a distant sight for Hyderabad with the in-form Dravid and the dangerous Cameron White in the middle. Dravid in his newfound aggressive style launched a brilliant counterattack with White bringing Bangalore right back. Venugopal Rao was hit for 19 in one over which had two sixes one from Cameron White and the other from Dravid. The Bangalore skipper then bludgeoned three successive boundaries off Bangalore but then edged the next to Gilchrist and but White was in no mood to relent as he kept pounding Hyderabad to keep Bangalores chase alive. The challenging target for Bangalore could have been a daunting one had Hyderabads middle and lower order carried on their openers good work and but they lost entire side in a space of seven overs adding only 61 runs. Only four Hyderabad batsmen reached double digits. Bangalore in a surprise move started the game with Anil Kumble bowling the first over. The veteran leg spinners match winning effort against Chennai was perhaps the primary reason not to mention Bangalores pacers total inability to curb the flow of runs with the new ball. The move paid off but only to a certain extent. While Hyderabad started off slowly against Kumble and Dale Steyn the dynamic openers opened their shoulders after the initial overs. Kumble gave only nine runs in two overs while Steyn gave 18 off his three and but the tide turned with the ball handed to the Jacques Kallis and company. Hyderabad openers upped the ante and runs started flourishing. Gibbs who has been disappointing in the tournament gave a glimpse of what the South African was capable of. Overshadowing Gilchrist Gibbs started flourishing smashing six boundaries and two sixes. Gilchrist too soon came into his own hitting Balachandran Akhil for two trademark sixes and a boundary of the 11th over. Hyderabad it seemed were running away with the game and Dravid had no option but to bring Kumble back and the leg-spinner delivered once again. Gibbs stepped down the wicket to Kumble after his team had brought up the hundred in the 12th over and missed the ball completely to be stumped for a 34-ball 47. Hyderabad were 101-1 at that stage. Gilchrist also failed to reach his half-century as he was caught on the boundary ropes for 46 which included four boundaries and two sixes. Sri Lankan Chamara Silva fell for no score of Virat Kohli and it was looking as if Hyderabad will give away their solid beginning as they lost three wickets in five overs scoring 38 runs. Hyderabad then suffered a big blow when Rohit Sharma 17 who has been a revelation in the IPL fell cheaply and it was left to Venugopal Rao to take the home side to a respectable total. Rao desperate to get a move on smashed two towering sixes and one boundary off Kumbles last over to spoil his figures but soon perished for a 10-ball 22 and after Rao departed it all went down slide for the beleaguered Hyderabad side as their last six batsmen failed to reach double figures.
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