Parthiv’s 53 propels Bangalore to a fighting total

Bangalore, April 21 (IANS) Opener Parthiv Patel's (53 off 37) half-century followed by Moeen Ali's quick 16-ball 26 propelled Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to 161/7 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, here on Sunday.

The Chennai bowlers kept on jolting the home side at regular intervals as Bangalore failed to post a big total, thanks to Deepak Chahar, Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo, who each picked two wickets beside bowling economically on a batting friendly Chinnaswamy track.

Asked to bat, Bangalore received a major blow as Bravo dismissed Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli (9) with the hosts' score reading 11 runs in the third over.

Parthiv was then joined by South African superstar AB de Villiers (25 off 19) and they both showed some resistance, adding 47 runs for the second wicket before Jadeja struck to dismiss the latter. de Villiers while trying to clear the boundary miscued a Jadeja delivery to hand a catch to Faf du Plessis at long-off.

Akshdeep Nath (24 off 20) then added 41-runs with Parthiv as Bangalore slowly inched towards the three-digit mark before Jadeja cut short the former's stay in the 13th over with the hosts placed at 99.

25 runs later, Parthiv was the next to depart as Bravo accounted for his wicket in the 16th over. Parthiv's innings contained couple of boundaries and four sixes.

Marcus Stoinis chipped in with 14 runs, while Ali's contribution saw Bangalore reaching a modest total against the defending champions. Ali's 26 runs came from five boundaries.

It was Bravo who once again dismissed a dangerous looking Ali, while Tahir picked Stoinis. Pawan Negi and Umesh remained unbeaten on five and one run, respectively.

Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 161/7 in 20 overs (Parthiv Patel 53, Moeen Ali 26; Deepak Chahar 2/26) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore.