IT vs GG

After yesterday's heartbreak for the Indian cricket team and the whole country, it was time to freshen up the minds, witnessing somd yester years stars in action. Several matches lined up for tomorrow as well. Keep following Sportskeeda for all the latest sporting actions but for now, this is myself (Arya Sekhar Chakraborty) biding adieu also on behalf of my fellow commentator and good mate Soumarya Dutta.

Harbhajan Singh (Manipal Tigers captain): Yes, very happy with the way we fought till in the end. It shows that if you keep fighting, the result will be in your favor. After Kallis wicket, the match turned in our favor. I reached here 8 in the morning and I am happy that I could lead from the front. The ball was wet so I just wanted to toss the ball up. Well I think, we still need to bat well in the middle overs. The kind of batters we have in the middle order, we should have scored much more but whatever we scored, we had to defend that and it was a great effort.

Parthiv Patel , Gujarat Giants Captain- We will have to sit down and discuss what went wrong. Either me or Jacques( Kallis) should have stayed back and done the job. We were happy with where we restricted them at the halfway stage. It's great to have the likes of Kallis and Gayle in the side and the former showed his class. Rajat has played a lot of IPL cricket and he understands his strengths and limitations and delivered accordingly. Trent Johnston set the tone in the field with his efforts. 

Parvinder Awana, Player of the Match - There was no pressure on me even though I am the impact player. I thought if I could bowl that over well then the game would turn from that point. It's great to be here in Ranchi and I want to thank the crowd. 

Manipal Tigers won by 10 runs

Hamilton Masakadza 37(18) | Parvinder Awana 4/19(3)
Jacques Kallis 56(42) | Rajat Bhatia 3/31(4)


Parwinder Awana and Thisara Perera turned out to be heroes for the Manipal Tigers as they bowled some stunning overs towards the death and was instrumental in scripting a come-from-behind victory by 10 runs for the Tigers. They looked dead and buried when Chris Gayle and Jacques Kallis were going great guns. Even until the 17th over, the Giants had the game under control. Just 20 runs were required in the last three overs and it was not a great sight for a team in form to capitulate like that. Jacques Kallis was dismissed on the first delivery of the 18th over and that turned out to be a game-changer. 

Wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals and there was no way back for the Gujarat Giants. They couldn't find the gaps and were unable to even rotate the strike. Sensible batting would have taken them over the finish line but it never happened. Chasing a target of 175, the likes of Chris Gayle and Jacques Kallis came out with a positive frame of mind and kept finding the boundaries on a consistent basis. They raced off to 74 in the powerplay and it looked like, the game was done and dusted by then. 

However, the Manipal Tigers had other ideas as they kept squeezing the batters in the middle overs, led admirably by Harbhajan Singh. He bowled four superb overs, conceding just 14 runs besides picking two crucial wickets. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals with Richard Levi and Kevin O'Brien falling cheaply. 

The pressure was building but with Kallis in the middle, they backed themselves to chase this down. Kallis went on to score 58 but his wicket of the 18th over totally turned the game around, eventually scripting a famous 10-run win for the Manipal Tigers. The ball was not coming onto the bat and it became difficult for run scoring towards the end. Parvinder Awana was the pick of the bowlers, bagging 4 wickets while Harbhajan Singh and Thisara Perera also chipped in with a couple of wickets each.

19.6 Parvinder Awana to Sarabjit Ladda, OUT! Awana seals the game with a wicket and the Tigers win by 10 runs. It was outside off stump and Ladda tried the ramp shot. He only hit it to Praveen Kumar waiting at short fine leg and the Gujarat Giants end up with 163/9 in 20 overs. 

19.5 Parvinder Awana to Rajat Bhatia, DROPPED! But it will only be a single and Awana has ensured that the Tigers can't loose this game. Bhatia smashed it hard and it burst through the fingers of Awana. 

19.4 Parvinder Awana to Rajat Bhatia, fuller and this one has been hit away towards the long off region. Bhatia runs hard and comes back for the second run. 12 runs needed from two balls now. 

19.3 Parvinder Awana to Sarabjit Ladda, yorker and on the pads. Ladda can't get it away and it will just be a leg bye. 14 runs needed from three balls now. 

19.2 Parvinder Awana to Rayad Emrit, OUT! Another one bites the dust! It was the cutter and at the stumps. It stayed low and Emrit was caught in the crease and trapped plumb in front of the stumps. The eighth wicket goes down and more importantly it's a dot ball. 

What a fantastic couple of overs for the Manipal Tigers and from a very comfortable position to win the game, the Giants have lost their way and staring down the barrel. The Giants looks in real trouble now. That's also the end of the penultimate over. The last couple of overs have gone for just 4 runs along with as many wickets. 

18.6 Thisara Perera to Trent Johnston, OUT! It was full and straight at the stumps. It was the cutter again. Johnston tried to go over cover and he missed it completely. The Giants have lost their seventh one now.

Trent Johnston b Thisara Perera 0 (2b, 0x4, 0x6) 

What the hell is happening here? Parthiv Patel departs at a crucial juncture in the game and this match has all the twists to make it a classic. Only four runs have come from the last twelve deliveries.