Kallis anchors RCB to victory against KXIP

Biswajit Jha/Zeecric.com Bangalore: Jacques Kallis played an aggressive innings of unbeaten 89 to give Royal Challengers Bangalore their first win in the ILP-III. Kallis again showed that in T20 cricket one can play copybook cricket and still make runs. He never took the unorthodox rout during his brilliant knock, but played with straight bat, scoring runs at will. Kallis, who made his second consecutive fifty of the IPL-III, played second fiddle to both Pandey and Uthappa and anchored the innings perfectly. But once both the batsmen got out, he took the charge and hammered some huge sixes to seal the match in RCB’s favour. He took just 55 balls to reach 89 and helped his team overcome Kings XI’s huge 203/3. His 89-run knock consisted of 8 fours and 5 sixes. Chasing a huge 204 for victory, Kallis and rookie Manish Pandey gave Royal Challengers Bangalore a rollicking start as they helped their team cross fifty in no time.
Just when Manish Pandey seemed to take the match away from the Kings, Piyush Chawla inflicted a vital breakthrough for his team as he picked up Pandey for 38. Pandey’s 26-ball knock consisted of 2 fours and 3 scintillating sixes. Robin Uthappa, then, slammed the second fastest fifty of the IPL when he reached the milestone off just 19 balls. Uthappa bludgeoned 4 fours and an equal number of sixes during his brilliant knock. But immediately after he reached his fifty, he again tried to hit one out of the park which landed safely on the hands of Md Kaif.Earlier, Ravi Bopara’s destructive 77 and Manvinder Bisla’s brutal knock of 75 helped Kings XI Punjab post a huge 203/3 against Royal Challengers Bangalore after they had decided to bat first. Bisla and Bopara gave KXIP a rollicking start as they reached hundred in 12th over. They put together a record 129-run opening partnership which helped the team post over-200 score in the match. Bisla played attacking cricket while Bopara played a perfect foil to his opening partner. But once Bisla got out, Bopara broke free and played shots that went all over the park. His 49-ball knock contained 9 fours and 2 sixes. Bisla slammed his first fifty of the IPL off just 36 balls to give Kings XI Punjab a superb start. Bisla and his opening partner Ravi Bopara helped Kings XI cross fifty inside 6 overs. However, Bisla’s superb knock of 75 finally came to an end when he was caught at the boundary line off Kallis. Bisla’s 51-ball hurricane knock consisted of 7 fours and 4 sixes. Though former captain Yuvraj Singh failed to fire, it was Bopara who carried even after Bisla’s departure. He also completed his fifty off 42 balls to keep the momentum going for his team. Former Srilankan captain Mahela Jayawardene also joined the run-feast as he played a little cameo at the end.Teams Bangalore Royal Challengers (Playing XI): Jacques Kallis, Manish Pandey, Virat Kohli, Eoin Morgan, Rahul Dravid, Robin Uthappa, Mark Boucher(w), Praveen Kumar, Dale Steyn, Anil Kumble(c), Vinay Kumar Kings XI Punjab (Playing XI): Ravi Bopara, Manvinder Bisla, Kumar Sangakkara(w/c), Yuvraj Singh, Mahela Jayawardene, Irfan Pathan, Mohammad Kaif, Piyush Chawla, Bipul Sharma, Sreesanth, Yusuf Abdulla