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Morkel stars in Chennai victory

Chennai - South Africa all-rounder Albie Morkel plundered 28 runs off an over from Virat Kohli as Chennai Super Kings scored a thrilling last-ball victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League on Thursday.

Chennai, the defending IPL champions, seemed to have been edged out when they needed 43 off the last two overs, but Morkel (28) turned the game around in the 19th over with three sixes and two fours, leaving all-rounders Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja to complete a five-wicket win.

Bangalore had scored a mammoth 205-8 as opener Chris Gayle (68) led a belligerent top-order performance.

But Chennai remained in the hunt through South African Faf du Plessis (71 off 46) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (41 off 24) before the all-rounders wrapped up the game at 208-5.

Morkel was dismissed off the seventh ball he faced but pace bowler Vinay Kumar could not keep up the good work in the last over.

An above-the-waist no-ball that was clobbered for four by Bravo tilted the balance back in Chennai's favour. Bravo also smashed a six in the over and it finally came down to getting two off the last delivery when Jadeja scored the winning four to third man.

Earlier, left-hander Gayle smashed 68 off 35 deliveries and his effort was supplemented well by opener Mayank Agarwal (45) and No 3 batsman Virat Kohli (57).

Gayle, who was the highest scorer last season with 608 runs, was surprisingly overshadowed early on by the little-known Agarwal, who struck three fours and five sixes off 25 balls.

Gayle was on five off five deliveries when Agarwal was dismissed in a team score of 53 but had a fruitful 11-over partnership with Kohli that produced 109 runs.

Chennai now have two wins and two losses from four games while Bangalore have only one win and two losses from three outings.

Scores:

Chennai Super Kings 208-5 (Faf du Plessis 71, Mahendra Singh Dhoni 41, Albie Morkel 28, Dwayne Bravo 25 not out, Muttiah Muralitharan 3-21) def. Royal Challengers Bangalore 205-8 (Chris Gayle 68, Virat Kohli 57, Mayank Agarwal 45, Doug Bollinger 3-24, Ravindra Jadeja 2-18, Albie Morkel 2-37).
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