The 2011 Champions League Twenty20 came down to an Indian Premier League game, with the Mumbai Indians taking on the Royal Challengers Bangalore to decide the best club (or franchise) side in the world. It hadn't been an easy journey for either team, but after enduring some nerve-shatteringly tight games and mind-boggling onslaughts, the glory of a final victory beckoned.
No Clear Advantage
As he did in his semi-final, Harbhajan Singh won the toss for the Mumbai Indians and put his team in to bat. Sarul Kanwar got things going for the Royal Challengers Bangalore with a 6 in the first over, bowled by Tillekeratne Dilshan, but there was to be no storming knock from Aiden Blizzard this time, as he was badly run out in the next over. Dirk Nannes demolished Kanwar's stumps a couple of overs later to put Mumbai in trouble at 24/2.
James Franklin and Ambati Rayudu got things moving again with some big hitting to take the score over 20, but Bangalore struck again, as Rayudu fell to Raju Bhatkal for 22. By the end of the first 10 overs, Mumbai were holding on at 71/3, with RCB right behind them.
Boundaries from Suryakumar Yadav and James Franklin took the Mumbai Indians past 100, but then four wickets fell in three overs to cripple the innings at 109/7. With Franklin being run out for 41 and big hitter Kieron Pollard falling for 2, it fell to Lasith Malinga to smite a couple of 6s to take Mumbai past 120. Ultimately, the Indians stuttered to 139 all out from their 20 overs.
A Difficult Chase
Needing 140 to win the 2011 Champions Trophy, Tillekeratne Dilshan got the Royal Challengers off to a good start, hitting his Sri Lankan teammate Malinga for a 4 off the first ball of the innings (which turned out to be a no-ball, so make that 5). RCB raced to 38/0 off only 4 overs when Dilshan's off-stump was uprooted by Malinga. Dilshan gone for a breezy 27. Chris Gayle had seemed content playing second fiddle, but when Harbhajan Singh had him caught in front for a slow 5 off 12 balls, RCB were 42/2 and slowing down.
Things got worse for the Challengers as they lost three wickets in three overs, including Virat Kohli. The Mumbai Indians kept a tight leash on the scoring, and when Mohammed Kaif and Daniel Vettori fell in successive overs, the writing was on the wall. At 92/7, there was no coming back for Bangalore, and they eventually collapsed to an ignominious 108 all out, giving the Mumbai Indians victory by 31 runs and crowning them the winners of the 2011 Champions League.
A Surprising Final
This game wasn't the best advertisement for Twenty20 cricket, with neither team scoring at 7.00 runs an over, but what it was, was a great game of cricket. Scoring was not easy, forcing the batsmen to forget about clearing the boundary and instead rely on strike rotation. The Mumbai Indians didn't quite get it right, suffering three run outs in their innings, but their score was enough to put pressure on Bangalore.
Once Dilshan fell for his quick 27, it put all the burden on Chris Gayle, who had a torrid time adapting to the conditions. Five runs off 12 balls is not something generally associated with him, and of all the Royal Challengers to score a run, his 41.66 was the worst strike rate for his team.
So even though the trophy for best domestic side in the world goes to an Indian Premier League franchise, we still got a good game of cricket out of it. This was certainly not a batsman's game, as both the Man of the Match & Player of the Tournament awards went to bowlers. One hopes that we'll see many more such Twenty20 games in the future.
- Mumbai Indians: 139 all out (James Franklin 41, Raju Bhatkal 3-0-21-3) in 20 overs, at 6.95 runs an over
- Royal Challengers Bangalore: 108 all out (Tillekeratne Dilshan 27, Harbhajan Singh 4-0-20-3) in 19.2 overs at 5.58 runs an over
- Mumbai Indians win by 31 runs and win the 2011 Champions League Twenty20
- Man of the Match: Harbhajan Singh
- Player of the Tournament: Lasith Malinga
Scorecard at Cricinfo
Michael Perera - The only rule in writing is honesty. If you're honest, the words will write themselves.
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