Dhoni 6, Pietersen 0. That’s the scoreline between them when the two captained India and England respectively for a series in India last year.
But when the two maverick leaders of Team Chennai and Royal Challengers clash in the fifth match of the Indian Premier League at Port Elizabeth on Monday, Dhoni will know that basking in the glory of that 6-0 lead will be suicidal.
WATCH LIVE CRICKET MATCH BETWEEN CHENNAI SUPERKINGS Vs BANGLORE ROYAL CHALLENGERS
Having lost the tournament-opener to Mumbai Indians by 19 runs, Chennai, last year’s runners up, will be hoping to get on the points table on Monday.
They will be up against a buoyed up Royal Challengers outfit after their crushing 75-run win over defending champions Team Jaipur in Cape Town on Saturday.
Both teams will need to keep the conditions of Port Elizabeth in mind when they decide on the combination. Port Elizabeth has always been a slowish wicket which tends to keep a bit low.
The spinners, who very much called the shots on Day 1 of the tourney, could be in business again at St George’s Park. May be, it’s a chance for Dhoni to drop one of his seamers, probably Thilan Thushara and get in the Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan.
In hindsight, Dhoni will rue the absence of the explosive Albie Morkel in the first match who could not play as his kit was misplaced by the airline in Johannesburg.
His sharp seam bowling and lusty hitting could just have meant the difference between victory and defeat. The Royal Challengers though will be keen on maintaining the momentum they gained from their massive win over Team Jaipur.
They looked a renewed outfit under no-nonsense coach Ray Jennings and new captain Kevin Pietersen. The latter’s eyes could just light up seeing the inclusion of Muralitharan in the Chennai outfit as it was against his bowling that he had first tried the ‘switch hit’.
KP will only be keen to repeat the stroke, which caused so much debate in cricketing circles, in the shortest form of the game. The Team Chennai vs Royal Challengers clash will also witness a battle within a battle as Pietersen will face off against Andrew Flintoff, his fellow Englishman and fellow $1.55m-man in IPL 2.Bangalore sent in a pinch-hitter in Pravin Kumar to take advantage of the fielding restrictions in the first six overs and also keeping in mind the daunting target of 180. However, the experiment fell flat on its face as Kumar was bowled by a slow full delivery from Manpreet Gony in the first over. (0-1, 0.3 overs)
Kallis started off positively, smashing Balaji for two consecutive boundaries in the next over and followed it up with another couple of boundaries off Gony.
Robin Uthappa got into the act with a delightful boundary through the covers off Morkel in the fourth over and then took on Gony as he walked down the wicket and smashed him through midwicket for a boundary. Despite the few quick boundaries, the Bangalore side was still behind the asking run rate of nine, amassing 40 for 1 after five overs, with a run-rate of eight.
Kallis fell leg before wicket in the sixth over when he walked down the wicket but was struck in front by Morkel. He made 24 from 19 deliveries, including five boundaries, but was bogged down by the Chennai bowlers in the last few overs. (40-2, 5.2)
Despite a few boundaries, Bangalore failed to fully utilise their first six overs, scoring just 46 for two, well below their asking rate. Also surprising was that Pietersen did not come into bat at fall of Kallis's wicket which left many wondering why the side's premier batsman and captain did not take up the challenge.
Ross Taylor did not stay for long; he offered a high catch straight back to the bowler while attempting a cross-batted slog off Flintoff and was dismissed for 1 from 4 deliveries. (47-3, 6.5)
Flintoff conceded just two runs in his first over as Bangalore slipped to 48 for 3 in seven overs. But worse was to come for Bangalore as Muralitharan rocked the middle order with a double blow in his very first over of the IPL second season.
Bowling from round the wicket, the Sri Lankan ace got the big wicket of Pietersen, trapping him leg before. Pietersen face just one ball before he tried to play across the line to Muralitharan, but failed to connect and walked back looking very disappointed. (49-4, 7.3)
Two deliveries later, Uthappa got a taste of Muralitharan's wizardry when the veteran offie beat him with his trademark doosra that pitched on leg stump and spun the other way to have him stumped for 20 from 19 deliveries. (50-5, 7.5)
Four wickets fell for just 11 runs in the space of three overs as Bangalore crumbled from 39 for two in the sixth over to 50 for five in the eighth.
Flintoff and Muralitharan strangled the batsmen as five overs passed without a boundary, Bangalore reaching 56 for five in 10 overs. It remained to be seen whether the strategy break that rescued them in the first innings could once again save them. But at this stage it seemed nearly impossible.
Joginder Sharma also struck in his first over when he claimed the wicket of Virat Kohli for 11 (13 deliveries). The Delhi youngster smashed Sharma for a six through the leg-side but was caught at point attempting another big shot. (66-6, 10.5)
Debutant Rajesh Bishnoi lasted just one delivery as he holed out Muralitharan straight to Balaji at long-on. (66-7, 11.1)
Muralitharan was now threatening to wrap up the innings pretty quickly -- his figures reading three for 11 in three overs, while Dravid was running out of partners at the other end.
Bangalore's misery continued as Vinay Kumar flicked a full toss from Balaji straight to Hayden at midwicket and was dismissed for 5. (74-8, 12.4)
Nothing was going right for Bangalore as Dale Steyn fell for a duck, run-out by Raina after being sent back by Dravid attempting an impossible run. (78-9, 13.3)
The innings finally ended when Dravid hit Balaji straight to Flintoff at square leg and was dismissed for 20. Bangalore were dismissed for 87 in 15.2 overs and lost the match by a huge margin of 92 runs.
Muralitharan, who was not included in the first game, finished with remarkable figures of three for 11 in his four overs, that also included a maiden.
Flintoff also had a good outing with the ball, taking one for 11 in three overs, while Balaji took two for 18.
After the setback in the first match, Chennai bounced back in style. It was Hayden's blazing knock that made the difference in the final analysis, as man of the match Muralitharan also admitted.
After this showing Chennai will surely regain its place among the favourites for the trophy.
Bangalore, meanwhile, were sent crashing back to earth following their convincing win over champions Rajasthan Royals in their first match.
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