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A convincing victory for the India Capitals as they make their way into the knockout stages. Till the next time, it's adios from the commentary box. This is me, Arya Sekhar Chakraborty signing off with my fellow commentator and good mate Pratyush. Good night!!!!!
Gautam Gambhir, India Capitals skipper- In fact very clinical performance. You have to give it to the bowlers. The last 10 balls were exceptional. At one stage I thought they would score 180-185. I played a few good shots but have to start converting the starts. We have the luxury of Solomon Mire and Masakadza. Rajat bowled brilliantly in the last over. Restricting them to 161, I thought we had control of the game at the halfway stage. I think T20 cricket is all about who bowls the tough overs, Liam is someone who bowls the tough overs and he had done that for us in the last three-four games. We have guys who can contribute in all three departments. Liam Plunkett is someone who is very fit as well. 15-20 runs is a huge difference.
Harbhajan Singh, Manipal Tigers skipper- There is a scope but for that, we have to play better cricket and of course, I have to win toss. It’s very difficullt to bowl under dew. We are still confident that we will give our best shot and give a best chance for qualifying. I think when we were like 150/1 in 18 overs, I thought last two overs we should have got little more. Bhatia bowled well and I couldn’t hit those. The conditions were different for them. They outplayed us. Hamilton was exceptional.
Hamilton Masakadza is the Player of the Match. Here is what he has to say: I think I struggled a bit at the start today but it started to come out better later on. Solomon gave us another good start. He's been flying in this tournament. It's always easier when he does that at the top. It was coming out well enough, so I thought I'll try a few more shots today. (Playing against Harbhajan and Muraltharan) They are huge. I've watched a lot of them growing up and it's been great to play against Murali in particular.
India Capitals beat Manipal Tigers by 7 wickets (with 16 deliveries to spare)
Hamilton Masakadza 68(39) | Rajat Bhatia 2/14 Jesse Ryder 79(56) | Muthiah Muralidaran 1/15
A thoroughly professional run-chase from the India Capitals as they romp home by wickets and with deliveries to spare. Hamilton Masakadza batted with authority and ensured that the target was reached without too many hiccups. The Manipal Tigers needed to get early inroads into the India Capitals’ star-studded batting line-up.
Gautam Gambhir started off with some delightful strokes before Chris Mpofu bagged the prized wicket with a delivery that stopped on the surface. Solomon Mire after struggling to time the ball towards the early part of his innings. He got going with a couple of fours and a six while Hamilton Masakadza who was the next man in looked in good touch right from the outset. Mire was unlucky as he was holed out deep backward square leg to a juicy full toss on the pads from Dilhara Fernando.
Masakadza was joined by Ross Taylor at the fall of Mire's wicket and the duo looked in no trouble whatsoever. Taylor who retired recently from international cricket struck two lusty blows but was troubled by Muthiah Muralitharan. Even at this age, Murali got enough purchase from the surface and never really allowed the batters to go after him. He finished with sensational figures of 1/15 in his quota of 4 overs.
Masakadza found the boundaries on a consistent basis which never really allowed the required rate to creep up. To match up his power game, Masakaza also showed game awareness and found the gaps to perfection. When Ross Taylor was dismissed by Murali, the game was almost in the bag for the India Capitals. Coming in at No 5, Ashley Nurse smashed three sixes to take his side over the finishing line.
Earlier in the day, it was Gautam Gambhir who won the toss and put the Manipal Tigers in. He clearly mentioned that it was a no-brainer to field in this surface. After an early wicket of Tatenda Taibu, Jesse Ryder and Mohammad Kaif ensured that the Manipal Tigers resurrected the innings and batted sensibly. However the big shots were few and far between till the 10th over which eventually cost them the game.
Post the 10th over, Ryder and Kaif started flexing their muscles and found the boundaries quite regularly. Both went on to score crucial half-centuries to take the Tigers' past the 160 mark. While Ryder scored 79 off 57 deliveries, Kaif scored 68 off 47 deliveries. They were looking towards the 175 mark but some good bowling towards the end, kept the Tigers to just 161 in their allotted 20 overs.
Ashley Nurse finishes off in style with a slog sweep over the deep midwicket boundary. The Manipal Tigers just hang by a slim thread here. It was a spirited effort from the batters but a score of 161 was never going to be enough, especially against a star-studded India Capitals line-up. In the end, it was a convincing 7-wicket victory with 16 deliveries to spare.
17.2 Pradeep Sahu to Ashley Nurse, SIX! NURSE FINISHES IT OFF IN STYLE! Tossed up full and outside off, Nurse gets down on one knee and clubs his slog sweep to clear the long-on boundary with significant ease. The Manipal Tigers have been knocked out of the playoff race. A comprehensive 7-wicket win for India Capitals as they move to the top of the table!
17.1 Pradeep Sahu to Hamilton Masakadza, flatter on the good length outside off, punched off the back foot for a single at sweeper cover. One hit away now, the Capitals
Just 7 more needed off 18 deliveries. Such an authoritative run-chase this has been. Gautam Gambhir said during the toss that batting second was a no-brainer after winning the toss. You have to feel for Harbhajan Singh who has been unlucky with the toss. He hasn't won a single toss in the tournament as the Manipal Tigers are on the verge of elimination.
17
overs
155/3score
1
0
1
0
1
6
runs
Hamilton Masakadza
67(38)
Ashley Nurse*
15(10)
Corey Anderson
0/9
16.6 Corey Anderson to Ashley Nurse, SIX! MUSCLED! Dug in short this time and Nurse climbs onto it in a flash! Rocks back to set himself before clobbering this to send the ball sailing over deep mid-wicket
16.5 Corey Anderson to Hamilton Masakadza, back of a length on the middle stump line, Masakadza works it to deep mid-wicket and takes the single on offer
16.4 Corey Anderson to Hamilton Masakadza, pitched up in the channel around off-stump, Masakadza taps it back to the bowler. Good stop by Anderson in his follow-through, no run
16.3 Corey Anderson to Ashley Nurse, back of a length outside the off-stump, Nurse stays on the back foot to slap this to long-off
16.2 Corey Anderson to Ashley Nurse, back of a length outside the off-stump, Nurse hangs back to punch it to extra cover, no run
16.1 Corey Anderson to Hamilton Masakadza, back of a length slower one outside off, Masakadza chops it towards sweeper cover to inch closer to the target
Corey Anderson, left arm medium pacer is into the attack.
Another productive over for the India Capitals as we head into the final strategic time out of the match. This has been a brilliant run-chase from the India Capitals and has been led from the front by Hamilton Masakadza. Ashley Nurse also joined the fun in the previous over smashing Pradeep Sahu for a huge six over the deep midwicket fence. Just 16 more runs needed off 24 deliveries. Should be a canter here but stranger things have happened in cricket before so you just cannot tell. Could there be some dramatic twist left in this game?
16
overs
0/0score
1
0
6
0
2
0
runs
Pardeep Sahu
15.6 Pradeep Sahu to Ashley Nurse, flatter wrong 'un to slide it into the right-hander, Nurse hangs back to tap it down the pitch, no run