JACQUES Kallis smashed an imperious half-century as the Royal Challengers Bangalore secured a remarkable eight-wicket home victory over the Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League.
Fuelled by a rollicking 75 from opener Manvinder Bisla and a superb 77 from Ravi Bopara – his second consecutive half-century – the Kings XI amassed a formidable 203-3 after choosing to bat first.
But Kallis smashed an unbeaten 89 and Robin Uthappa smacked 51 as the Royal Challengers overhauled that target with seven deliveries to spare.
Praveen Kumar sent down a tidy first over, conceding just one and beating the outside edge on several occasions, but from there the game spiralled out of control for the home side.
Dale Steyn was disappointingly profligate at the start and Anil Kumble, who brought himself on in the first over after the end of the powerplay, proved more expensive.
Bisla began his innings with an ungainly boundary past wicketkeeper Mark Boucher down the leg side, and although he struggled initially, he managed to score at a decent rate.
The tempo rose considerably in the sixth over – Kallis’ second – Bisla pummelling the South Africa paceman for a six and two boundaries in five deliveries and the runs flowed freely from there on.
Bisla dominated the opening stand which produced 129 in 14.1 overs and went to his half-century in 36 deliveries before eventually holing out to Eoin Morgan at deep mid-wicket.
Bopara, who had played the supporting role nicely, then accelerated smoothly and raced past the half-century mark by hammering Praveen for three consecutive boundaries.
Then Bopara fell and Yuvraj Singh (nine) recorded another failure with the bat, but Mahela Jayawardene ensured a strong finish with a quick 26.
The home side faced a daunting chase, but openers Kallis and Manish Pandey (38) gave them a steady start, putting on 74 in 8.1 overs.
Pandey had provided impetus, striking two boundaries and smashing three sixes before his departure, but it was Uthappa’s fiery innings which put the Royal Challengers on track.
Uthappa smashed four boundaries and as many sixes – three of which came off a Sreesanth over which yielded 25 – and raised his half-century off only 19 deliveries before falling to Bipul Sharma, one of two specialist spinners in the Kings XI side.
The Royal Challengers needed 55 from the last five overs, but Kallis brought that target down to 11 off the last two overs by hammering Bipul for three sixes and a four in one over. (CA)