May 14, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 8, 1429

MOHALI, May 13: It could not have gone worse for Bangalore Royal Challengers in the ongoing Indian Premier League. With Rahul Dravid’s men facing the heat from all corners, a nine-wicket thrashing by Mohali’s Kings XI Punjab here on Monday meant that Bangalore’s run in the competition is now bordering on humiliation (also partly reported on Tuesday).

Bangalore’s meagre 143-run total was never going to be challenging enough but Shaun Marsh’s blistering 51-ball knock of 74 handed out an embarrassing defeat to the visitors as Mohali galloped to their target in the 16th over.

In their previous encounter too, Mohali had cantered home, drubbing Bangalore by six wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium one week ago.

On a decent pitch, the Bangalore batsmen showed momentary sparks but it never came together for them. Virat Kohli and Misbah-ul-Haq flowed for a brief period while Mark Boucher and Dravid displayed grit but it was never going to be enough.

It was the combination of Indian bowlers and Aussie batsmen, which worked like a charm for Mohali. After Shanthakumaran Sreesanth (3-29) and company restricted Bangalore to 143-8, the Aussie trio of Marsh, James Hopes and Luke Pomersbach flayed the bowlers to take Mohali to the top of the points table below Jaipur.

Marsh brought up another half-century as he smashed the deflated Bangalore attack to all corners of the ground, bludgeoning nine boundaries and two sixes in his unbeaten 74. He, along with Hopes, took the home side off to a steady start before Hopes departed for 27.

In a surprise move, Pomersbach was sent at number three and in his first game in the tournament, he blazed an unbeaten 24-ball 34, which included three boundaries and two sixes.

Pomersbach and Marsh added an unbroken 112-run stand in less than 10 overs as they took the Bangalore bowling to the cleaners.

Bangalore will now be playing for pride more than anything else in the tournament as their chances of qualifying to the semi-finals are improbable.

Summarised scores:

BANGALORE ROYAL CHALLENGERS 143-8 in 20 overs (Mark Bucher 39, Rahul Dravid 29, Virat Kohli 21, Misbah-ul-Haq 21; Shanthakumaran Sreesanth 3-29, Piyush Chawla 2-33); KINGS XI PUNJAB 144-1 in 15.4 overs (Shaun Marsh 74 not out,

Luke Pomersbach 34 not out, James Hopes 27).—Agencies