Legendary Article by Mizzou about the Kings victory

Kings dethroned by some monkey business

The greatest sports films involve stories about underdogs - be it a Lagaan, or a Chariots of Fire. These are the stories that arouse emotions, and offer a true measure of the spirit of the underdog. This Sunday's match between Kings XI and Bhajji's Monkeys was no less dramatic.

o­n paper, this was David vs. Goliath. And as happened in the most famous underdog victory, it was won by David. o­n paper, Bhajji's Monkeys vs. Kings was a no contest, but as the cliche goes, matches are not played o­n paper.

Bhajji's Monkeys may not have put together a string of consistent victories o­n the pitch, but as far as the toss is concerned, they have strung an impressive run of wins. Sending the Kings in, they were looking for a few early wickets to put the pressure o­n the favorites.

A stellar direct-hit by Mountu in the fourth over set the tone for the Monkeys. A few balls later, a good catch, albeit with an exaggerated dive, by Barry gave the Monkeys their second wicket, sending Pradeep back to the pavilion for no score.

What followed was a fiery spell of fast bowling by Avinash that ended in a maiden over, increasing the pressure o­n new batsman Kishore. This over set up the next wicket, as Kishore went for a straight drive to rotate the strike and Siddharth pouched a fabulous o­ne-handed catch to continue the pattern of good fielding by the Monkeys.

The Kings then put up their best partnership of the day with some intelligent cricket, and smart running between the wickets by Tridivesh and skipper Sai K, pinching singles at will. Their partnership yielded 30 at around four an over, and it seemed the Kings would bat the Monkeys out of the game. The Monkeys were now beginning to look a little erratic in the field, also giving away a few no balls, thereby removing the pressure built up earlier.

A pivotal moment in the match however, came when least expected, as Tridivesh stuck a full toss, off Puneet, straight into the hands of Sriram at square leg. At 53 for 4 the Kings were still in the hunt to get a score of around 85. However, Kings' Skipper Sai followed soon thereafter, and the Kings ended up losing their last 6 wickets for 7 runs, two of them to run-outs. What started off as intelligent running between the wickets, then turned into suicidal running, as Shashi and then Siva Kumar were sent back to the pavilion by some individual brilliance from Arun Ramchandran. Avinash Kumar ended as the outstanding bowler with three wickets in 3.2 overs conceding a measly 10 runs, with figures of 2 for 10 for Barry.

A total of 69 still seemed too high for a Monkeys team that had never chased anything above 44. Opener Sriram fell in the second over as the Kings were buoyed by a superior opening spell of fast bowling by Kartik.

In strode Mountu and released some of the pressure with a quick-fire eight off eleven balls. A mistimed flick off Ramakant ended Mountu's stay at the wicket. The o­nly southpaw of the game, Arun Venkataraman, then joined the other opener Puneet Shetty and put o­n a steady partnership of 26 which put the Monkeys o­n track for an upset win.

Puneet Shetty, the top-scorer among the Monkeys, put in yet another Man-of-the-match performance with 30 runs off 51 balls. His ability to pierce the field at will marks him out as a special talent, with o­ne particular square-cut splitting three fielders o­n the offside. A classic off-break by Ganesh was enough to end Arun's stay at the wicket, but another vital 27-run partnership between Puneet and Barry, brought the Monkeys to the brink of a famous win.

With three runs to win, Puneet top-edged a ball off Kartik's second spell, and it was left to Barry and skipper Arun Ramchandran to get the Monkeys to the end zone. The Kings however were not prepared to relinquish their crown as the sole undefeated team in the second round, and piled o­n the pressure with some tight bowling by Kartik and the wily off-spinner Ganesh.

With three balls remaining and a run to win, the captain of the Monkeys swept a low full-toss over midwicket to end the match and complete an upset as remarkable as any seen in Cricbay. A team of motley first-timers had outwitted a hardened professional outfit such as the Kings. While the Kings are still competing for the Platinum trophy as division leaders, the action now shifts to Encinal Park, for a do-or-die game between tonights victors and the Invincibles, with a spot for the Gold shield playoffs at stake.

- Arun Venkatraman