'The best T20 match of my life' - Kohli

One of the allures of the Champions League Twenty20 is the chance it gives for the little guy on the big stage. None of the obscure domestic cricketers grabbed the opportunity as dramatically as 25-year-old Arun Karthik. He thwacked the final ball of the match over midwicket to conjure a preposterous win, which took Royal Challengers Bangalore through to the semi-finals, and set off on a memorable chest-thumping celebration. That will be the abiding image of Royal Challengers' victory over South Australia, and perhaps of the league phase of the CLT20.

There was another moment to define the game though. It was in the 13th over of the chase, in the middle of an audacious counterattack by Virat Kohliand Tillakaratne Dilshan. Kohli punched the air angrily after drilling a full toss to long-off for a single. After completing the run, he chastised himself and practised the off-drive again. Annoyance at missing out on a hit-me ball is one thing, but Kohli had missed out on the fourth ball of the over after striking the first three for six, six and four. It was that sort of a match, where no amount of runs seemed enough.

Kohli had played a couple of blinders for the Royal Challengers in the CLT20 last year, and was second only to Chris Gayle in amassing runs in the IPL this season, but this 36-ball 70 ranks as his finest Twenty20 innings. There were several challenges to deal with in this high-pressure must-win game: no IPL team had ever beaten an Australian side in the CLT20, only a handful of times had a target in excess of 200 been successfully hunted down, and finally Gayle, the man whose form has closely mirrored that of the Royal Challengers this year, had been dismissed relatively cheaply.

After Gayle and Dilshan had provided the initial thrust, Kohli came out and utterly dominated the high-octane century stand with Dilshan, which kept the chase on course. Of the first 74 runs of the partnership, Kohli's contribution was 61, a big chunk of which came off his favourite Twenty20 stroke - the inside-out lofted drive in the arc stretching from long-off to deep extra cover. There were dabs past third man for four, hard-run twos after tucking the ball softly towards the deep, and no ugly across-the-line heaves were attempted.

By the time Kohli was dismissed, the pair had taken Royal Challengers to 165 for 2, with an eminently gettable 50 needed off the final five overs. "We were pumped up, to want to play like me and Dilshan did, you need some sort of adrenaline," Kohli at the post-match press conference, with the sound of the Royal Challengers celebrating still being heard. "I was really excited since we were hitting the sixes at the right time and probably the best T20 match of my life."

Still to complete the job after Kohli's dismissal, Royal Challengers needed some amazing hits and most of their batsmen delivered. Saurabh Tiwary bludgeoned Tait for a 99-metre six over long-on, Mayank Agarwal pummelled his first ball over the extra-cover boundary, Daniel Vettori flicked one way beyond midwicket, and S Aravind played an immensely courageous scoop in the final over for four. Despite all that, it came down to nine off three balls, at which stage Kohli says he lost hope.

"I didn't (think we could win)," he said. "I was sitting with the coach and we needed seven off two, and I told him, 'coach if we get four off this ball, and two off the last ball, just run, I think we are going to make it,' when we got a single, I just closed my eyes, and said coach whatever happens, happens."

Then came Karthik's moment of magic, and the crowd went berserk. The Royal Challengers were also delirious, mobbing Karthik, who couldn't stop bouncing up and down after the match-sealing six. Kohli, an animated presence in the dug-out since his dismissal, charged out and was the first to pluck some stumps as souvenirs. "None of us can still believe that, especially since it was a quarter-final for us, to be able to play like that was a team's delight, a coach's delight, a player's delight, all in all a wonderful experience."

Royal Challengers may have emphatically proven they can win without Gayle turning in a headlining performance, but their shoddy fielding and toothless bowling remain a cause for worry. For their fans and the team, those concerns can wait for another day as they savoured a famous win.

Hero Of the CLT20 for RCB - Arun Karthik

Arun Karthikkk...!! Those who have watched the match between Royal challengers Bangalore and South Australia need not mention his name specially..!! What a Thrilling Match it was...! It was a pleasure to see the best match ever in 20-20 format.
Here is Few details of Arun Karthik.

Full name Konda Bhaskir Arun Karthik

Born February 15, 1986, Walajapet, Tamil Nadu

Current age 25 years 233 days

Major teams Badureliya Sports Club, Chennai Super Kings,Royal Challengers Bangalore, Tamil Nadu

Playing role Batsman

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Legbreak googly

A right-handed top-order batsman and occasional opener, Arun Karthik began his first-class career with 149 on debut against Karnataka in 2008-09. He was part of a power-packed Tamil Nadu batting quintet that season, scoring 344 runs in four games. Arun Karthik began his mainstream career in Sri Lanka, where he represented Badureliya Sports Club for one season. He was the leading run-scorer for his club, with 213 runs in nine games in the 50-over tournament. Karthik is currently settling into his role as a regular top-order batsman for Tamil Nadu. He enjoyed good returns in 2009-10, scoring 573 Ranji runs at 53.19. He initially had an IPL contract with Chennai Super Kings and was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2011. That move paid off quite spectacularly in the Champions League later that year, when his last-ball six against South Australia took Royal Challengers to the semi-finals
He has played 22 First class matches and scored 1232 runs at an average of 41.06, which includes 4 centuries and 6 half centuries.

Last Ball Thriller Six Takes RCB into Semis of CLT20.

Arun Karthik produced the six most important runs of his 15-match Twenty20 career off the last ball of the CLT20 league phase to propel Royal Challengers Bangalore past South Australia Redbacks in a game that had everything except for a Super-Over finish. It featured an astonishing century from Daniel Harris - only the third in Champions League history. It had a five-for from Shaun Tait, in a game where 429 runs came off 40 overs. It also featured sublime stroke play from Virat Kohli, who played his best T20 innings. It had strong helping hands from Callum Ferguson and Tillakaratne Dilshan.

It all boiled down to the last ball, off which six were needed, and Karthik stepped up to smash Daniel Christian into the stands beyond midwicket. The crowd went up as one, the RCB dug-out exploded in joy, and even the usually laidback Chris Gayle walked out shirtless with a broad smile.

In a game that unfolded like a Hitchcock whodunit, it was fitting that the winning blow came off the bat of someone who was playing only because AB de Villiers was injured. At the other end was S Aravind, the worst bowler of the day, who got close to redemption with a boundary off the third ball of that electric final over. Christian bowled a slower ball on the fourth, which Aravind slogged for two, making it seven needed off the last two. Aravind couldn't connect with the fifth, but the batsmen scrambled through for a bye. Six needed off one, and Christian delivered a slower ball as hittable as Chetan Sharma's infamous full toss to Javed Miandad in Sharjah. Karthik coolly stayed in his crease and heaved with all his might over midwicket to become a hero.

It was heartbreak for the Redbacks, who had somehow regrouped after a virtually unstoppable 100-run stand between Kohli and Dilshan off 8.5 overs. By the time Kohli fell, he had reduced the equation to 50 off the last five overs, but RCB's light-weight middle order gave the Redbacks a chance. Nathan Lyon piled on the pressure with a four-run 16th over, but Tait ceded the advantage with two sixes in the 17th, though he managed to dismiss Saurabh Tiwary. The next over from Aaron O'Brien also produced two sixes and a wicket, making it 18 required off 12 balls. Tait then lasered Dilshan's stumps with a stunning yorker and got Daniel Vettori to miscue, before completing his five-for with Raju Bhatkal's wicket. That set up the last-over climax, Christian blinked after five balls, and Karthik held his nerve to complete the first win for an IPL side against an Australian team.

The performances from Tait and Karthik dominated the ending, but the contest got its substance from Harris and Kohli. Both produced innings that had no business featuring in an unabashed exhibition for T20 batting. Harris' effort stood out for the shots he didn't play - he went almost 18 overs without trying to hit a six, and yet coasted to a century with time to spare. Kohli's was elevated by the shots he chose to play. Faced with an asking-rate nearing 11, and with Gayle dismissed, Kohli unfurled a series of astonishingly correct strokes.

Equally telling were the chalk-and-cheese support acts from Ferguson and Dilshan. With the spinners pulling things back after Harris' Powerplay boundary blitz, Ferguson took his time settling in before opening up in style. Dilshan, on the other hand, ignited RCB's chase with a series of outrageous strokes, which included a couple of trademark scoops.

Gayle was more subdued at the start, but he gradually found his range to muscle three sixes, before Michael Klinger caught him in the deep even as he collided grievously with Tom Cooper. Kohli walked in like he belonged in the cauldron, and opened his account with a pulled six through wide long-on. The slowness of the pitch and the variations of the Redbacks attack could not stop him from hitting through the line, and repeatedly in front of the wicket. He charged out to O'Brien and launched him with the turn over long-off, before carving Richardson for the shot of the day - an inside-out six into the stands behind extra-cover. He then gave Harris a taste of his own medicine, taking him for two sixes and three fours in the 13th over to put RCB on course for a heist.

The script was completely different in the first half of the match as, for the second night on the trot, an IPL side took a hiding from an Australian batsman. Aravind's pathetic lengths made this considerably easy - he finished with figures of 4-0-69-0, the second worst in T20 history - but that could not take any credit away from Harris.

The floodgates opened in the second over, when Aravind sent down a series of slow freebies angled into the hitting zone. Harris gratefully opened up his stance and carved boundaries straight, square and fine through the off side to set the Redbacks on their way. Kohli missed a run-out in the next over, and Harris celebrated by smashing seven of his next eight balls for fours. Vettori daringly persisted with Aravind for the fourth over, only to see him repeat his predictable lengths from either side of the stumps. Harris indulged himself to move to 43 off 19 balls by the fourth over, and Vettori was left playing catch-up for the remaining 16.

With the spinners coming on, Harris settled into cruise-mode, while Ferguson assuredly got his eye in. Just when the momentum seemed to be flagging a touch Aravind returned, and the Redbacks resumed their run-glut. Having taken two fours and a six off Aravind's 16th over, Ferguson thumped Nannes emphatically for a six off the first ball off the 17th. He holed out in the 18th over, prompting Harris to finally attempt a big hit. He pounded Bhatkal over midwicket for his first six, before dumping Nannes behind square-leg to bring up the century. Incredibly, Aravind got the 20th over, and Christian duly bludgeoned five more fours to take the Redbacks to 214.

Twenty overs later, Christian and Aravind had their roles reversed. And how.

Royal Challengers Bangalore 215 for 8 (Dilshan 74, Kohli 70, Tait 5-32) beat South Australia Redbacks214 for 2 (Harris 108*, Ferguson 70) by two wickets

KKR Hopes Still alive in CLT-20

Kolkata Knight Riders stayed alive in the tournament with a show of desperation in the field, accuracy with the ball, and aggression with the bat. With rain lurking in the background, the Knight Riders won the crucial toss but had to deal with an aggressive start from Colin Ingram and JJ Smuts. However, led by Brett Lee and Jacques Kallis with the ball, they fielded superbly to allow only 67 runs in the last nine overs. Lee went for just 25 off his four overs, including nine runs off the 17th and 19th overs.

The sub-par total of 155 was always going to take some defending on a skidding surface flanked by short boundaries and a damp outfield. And with the in-form Kallis and Gautam Gambhir, and Manvinder Bisla playing some scintillating shots, it seemed like the Warriors would need outside intervention. It arrived, in the form of rain, but by then nine overs had been bowled and the Knight Riders were 22 ahead of the par score. That not only brought the Knight Riders, who have now played all their league matches, two points, but also a boost in their net run-rate.

The game was won and lost in the last nine overs of the Warriors innings. Ingram, through some stylish aerial hitting, and JJ Smuts, through muscular blows, had put Warriors on course for a defendable total. But both efforts needed finishing touches, which never came.

JJ Smuts tried to power his way through at the start, and in spite of all his efforts managed a strike-rate of just 106.97 during his 46. He played 17 dot balls. It is usually difficult to argue against an innings of 61 off 47, but tonight there were elements of Ingram's game that weren't up to scratch. He missed out on converting ones into twos, running the first one slowly despite having hit slightly wide of the fielders. He let Shakib Al Hasan get away with a few full tosses. Towards the end he struggled to accelerate. At one stage he wanted to walk off even after edging Lee short of the keeper, only to be asked to come back. He scored two couples, and his last 14 deliveries brought him 11 runs.

Ideally Ingram would have wanted to kick on after his impressive start. He began with sixes off Kallis, Yusuf Pathan and Shakib. The third of those made its way to the press box, on the third floor at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. It was going swimmingly for Warriors then: that six took the score to 77 for 1 in the 10th over, with two set batsmen looking to launch.

Both batsmen hit a boundary each in the next over, but in the following overs they got stuck. Ingram hit three full tosses for ones, JJ Smuts toe-ended a short ball to mid-off, and with a new batsman at the crease the Knight Riders sneaked in a few quiet overs. Ryan ten Doeschate, Manoj Tiwary and Lee were electric in the outfield to assist their bowlers.

Kallis came back in the 16th over with 28 scored off the preceding four overs, and turned the screws further. Just four came off his accurate over, and Lee followed it up with wide yorkers to concede just five off the 17th. Mark Bouhcer scooped his good friend Jacques Kallis for back-to-back fours to take Warriors to a fighting total, but soon followed it up by dropping Kallis.

In the form that he is in, you don't drop Kallis. Boucher's good high catch to send Bisla back was hardly amends. Both batsmen had hit a six each by then, and the Knight Riders had raced away to 35 in the fourth over. That wicket was followed up by a misfield that allowed Gambhir to get going with a four through mid-off. Kallis and Gambhir proceeded to loot 42 off the next five overs, matching each other short for shot. Gambhir was dropped too, when Kelly Smuts couldn't hold on to a high catch at deep cover. That mistake capped off an unsatisfactory night for the Warriors in every department.