Right. That will be that from us for tonight. Hope you enjoyed our coverage. Till next time, stay safe, goodbye and goodnight!
Gautam Gambhir, India Capitals captain: In Lucknow, it was not that competitive. In the last few games, it got really competitive. You want to push as much as you can. I think guys will get better in the next season and it is going to be much better. Indian cricket is still important. First-Class cricket is still the most important format. But if you don't want to play domestic cricket and are not getting picked in the IPL, you can come here and play. We did not have any other options apart from Mitch but it was an incredible comeback.
Irfan Pathan, Bhilwara Kings captain: It has been a fantastic league. Four teams played very good cricket. Lot of people thought this will be a league where retired players come, have fun and go home. This has been a hard-fought tournament. The female umpires getting chances to officiate in this league. It has been fantastic. The physios have done really well, looked after us. It has been demanding but this is what we do. We love to be associated with the game and there is nothing better. Kudos to Gautam and his team. Ross Taylor, he is in outstanding form. Mitch played really well. We did not bowl in the right areas. If you bowl like that, you are going to get hit. The workload I have had in the last month gave me a lot of confidence.
Ross Taylor, Player of the Match: It has been a fantastic tournament and nice to contribute. Did not think we would get 200. But the way Mitchell Johnson came out there and the partnership we had was fantastic. He did it a few times for Australia as well, so not a surprise. He made my job a lot easier and he probably deserves this award as well. It has been great fun. You don't think you will get an opportunity to play again. It was nice to hit a couple out of the middle and hopefully I can come back a few more years.
Yusuf Pathan, Player of the Series: I really enjoyed playing here with my team. This league was organized very well. I enjoyed batting on these wickets. All the teams were putting efforts and I am very happy to play here. I really enjoyed playing with him [Irfan], it is the first time we have played a franchise league together. We reached the final and really happy for both of us and the team. Thanks to the team for putting so much effort.
Wow! The scorecard might tell you that this was a one-sided contest. For the first half, though, it was anything but that. The Kings surged into the ascendancy and put the Capitals under all sorts of pressure in the powerplay. The latter, however, rode on Johnson and Taylor's brilliance to not just recover but also transfer pressure back onto the Kings. Once that partnership established itself at the crease, the Kings suffered and they could not really come back into the game.
Then, their openers, who have been at the heart of everything good they have done, departed relatively early. Yusuf followed suit soon and when Watson was run out in bizarre circumstances, the writing was on the wall for the Kings. That said, they have put together an excellent campaign and should be proud of all that they have achieved. On the night that mattered, though, the Capitals were just too good
TL Best c & b Bhatia 2 (5b 0x4 0x6) SR: 40
Bhatia to continue. And we have an appeal for a stumping first ball
END OF OVER:18 | 3 Runs 1 Wkt | BK: 107/9 (105 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 5.94, RRR: 52.50)
- Tino Best2 (3b)
- Sreesanth13 (10b)
- Pravin Tambe4-0-19-2
- Rajat Bhatia1-0-2-0
Tino Best is the last man out. He is walking very gingerly to the crease
TT Bresnan b Tambe 7 (17b 0x4 0x6) SR: 41.17
Tambe to bowl out. The Kings need a six every ball from here to win
END OF OVER:17 | 3 Runs | BK: 104/8 (108 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 6.11, RRR: 36.00)
- Tim Bresnan7 (16b)
- Sreesanth12 (8b)
- Rajat Bhatia1-0-2-0
- Pravin Tambe3-0-16-1
Bhatia, like he usually does, comes on to bowl the 17th. Can he wrap up this innings quickly?
END OF OVER:16 | 9 Runs | BK: 101/8 (111 runs required from 24 balls, RR: 6.31, RRR: 27.75)
- Sreesanth11 (7b)
- Tim Bresnan6 (11b)
- Pravin Tambe3-0-16-1
- Pankaj Singh3-0-14-2
