May 23, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 17, 1429

CHENNAI, May 22: A few hours after the Mumbai Indians collapsed from a winning position against Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League on Wednesday, the Chennai Super Kings outdid them as panic struck at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.

The Bangalore Royal Challengers seemed certain to crash to their sixth successive defeat but even they might struggle to fathom how they pulled off this robbery.

It was one-way traffic for most of the game. Chasing a modest 127, Chennai appeared to be in cruise control at 60 for no loss, and later at 85 for two, but Stephen Fleming’s dismissal induced some panic. Anil Kumble’s inspirational three for 14, the best figures for Bangalore in the IPL, played a part before Dale Steyn turned the heat on the lower order.

The pitch hardly played a part in this low-scoring match — one where both sets of batsmen tried their best to outdo themselves in throwing it away.

Chennai are still in with a good chance of making the semi-finals but this shock defeat yet again exposed their batting’s frailty. Fleming and Parthiv Patel got them off to a rollicking start, cutting and pulling with ease, and there appeared to be no demons in the pitch.

Fleming was in fine touch but he refused to ride his luck after Vinay Kumar bowled him off a no-ball. He was out two balls later — sweeping a fast one from Kumble straight into the hands of B. Akhil at deep square leg. That was enough to open up the weaknesses in the middle order. Chennai have been over-reliant on Subramaniam Badrinath and Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the two frittered it away, triggering a wave of recklessness. Dhoni, who promoted himself to No 3, struggled with his timing before a frustrated loft landed in Kumble’s hands at long-on. Badrinath tried a perilous sweep against Kumble, one where he moved across the stumps, and he was to regret it soon as the ball hit him plumb in front.

Albie Morkel and Sivaramakrishnan Vidyut fell to Steyn’s pull-trap — both top-edges that reeked of complacency against a bowler who was cranking it up to 145kph.

Suresh Raina appeared to be in a daze against his Uttar Pradesh state-mate, Praveen Kumar, and even declined a single when they needed an improbable 16 off five balls.

Earlier, under-fire Bangalore captain Rahul Dravid waged yet another lone battle with a brave 47 before becoming one of Albie Morkel’s four victims. Praveen Kumar was the next highest scorer with 21. With the defeat in their penultimate fixture, Chennai’s dreams of a semi-final berth ensure them as well as Delhi and Mumbai of a scrap till the last match. Summarised scores:

BANGALORE ROYAL CHALLENGERS 126-8 in 20 overs (Rahul Dravid 47, Praveen Kumar 21; Albie Morkel 4-32); CHENNAI SUPER KINGS 112-8 in 20 overs (Stephen Fleming 45, Parthiv Patel 24, Suresh Raina 21 not out; Anil Kumble 3-14, Dale Steyn 2-28).—Agencies