Riders crush Challengers

An unbeaten 158 by wicket-keeper batsman Brendon McCullum coupled with decimating fast bowling helped Kolkata Knight Riders 140-run win over Bangalore Royal Challengers in the opening match of the Indian Premier League in Bangalore on Friday.

Chasing to Knight Riders’ 222 for three, Bangalore’s Royal Challengers were bowled out for 82 in 15.1 over at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. McCullum score was the highest individual score in a Twenty20 game, was adjudged the Man of the Match. He blazed 13 sixes – the most in a Twenty20 contest - and 10 fours in an incredible 73-ball innings on a jam-packed Stadium.

The Fireworks which began in Zaheer Khan’s first over continued till the last ball of the innings, when McCullum hit the medium pacer Praveen Kumar over the long-on ropes. McCullum used his feet, picked the length of the ball early. His was largely a one-man onslaught on the RC bowling; the next highest score in Knight Riders’ innings was Ricky Ponting’s 20.

Chasing an unimaginable target, the host was taken for a ride early by pacers Ashok Dinda and Ishant Sharma. Ishant took an early wicket of Rahul Dravid with an incoming delivery and the host could not manage a recovery.

Ajit Agarkar, who finished with 3 wickets, dented the middle-order. Praveen Kumar’s 18 not out was the highest score of the innings for the KKK

Knight Riders picked up two points while Royal Challengers are yet to open their account

Scoreboard

Kolkata Knight Riders:
Sourav Ganguly c Kallis b Khan 10
Brendan McCullum not out 158
Ricky Ponting c Kumar b Kallis 20
David Hussey c White b Noffke 12
Mohammed Hafeez not out 5
Extras: (b 4, lb 4, w 9) 17
Total: (for 3 wickets in 20 overs) 222

Fall of wickets: 1-61 (Ganguly, 5.2 overs), 2-112 (Ponting, 12.1), 3-172 (Hussey, 17.1)

Bowling:
Praveen Kumar 4 0 38 0 (1w)
Zaheer Khan 4 0 38 1
Ashley Noffke 4 0 40 1 (1w)
Jacques Kallis 4 0 48 1 (1w)
Sunil Joshi 3 0 26 0
Cameron White 1 0 24 0 (1w)

Bangalore Royal Challengers:
Rahul Dravid b Sharma 2
Wasim Jaffer c Ponting b Dinda 6
Virat Kohli b Dinda 1
Jacques Kallis c Kartik b Agarkar 8
Cameron White c Saha b Agarkar 6
Mark Boucher c Kartik b Ganguly 7
Balachandra Akhil c Ponting b Agarkar 0
Ashley Noffke run out (Agarkar/Saha) 9
Praveen Kumar not out 18
Zaheer Khan b Ganguly 3
Sunil Joshi c McCullum b Shukla 3
Extras: (lb 8, w 11) 19
Total: (all out in 15.1 overs) 82

Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Dravid, 1.1 overs), 2-9 (Kohli, 2.2), 3-24 (Kallis, 4.5), 4-24 (Jaffer, 5.2), 5-38 (Boucher, 7.5), 6-38 (Akhil, 8.2), 7-43 (White, 8.6), 8-57 (Noffke, 11.1), 9-70 (Khan, 13.1)

Bowling:
Ashok Dinda 3 0 9 2 (2w)
Ishant Sharma 3 0 7 1 (1w)
Ajit Agarkar 4 0 25 3 (4w)
Sourav Ganguly 4 0 21 2 (1w)
Laxmi Ratan Shukla 1.1 0 12 1

Result: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 140 runs
Man of the Match: Brendon McCullum (New Zealand)