FIESTA de IPL: CHARISMATIC KALLIS ANCHORS BANGLORE

A batting paradise conquered by the throwback named Jacques Kallis, he is probably the most critiqued player, deemed not fit for T20, but what conspired on that 22 yard strip of Chinnaswamy Stadium is perhaps the best reply the ace all rounder could have given. Building an innings is considered a substratum for any batsmen, but it’s a rarity in the crash bang version and so is Kallis, a rare species of genius. He built an innings of substance and blossomed into variance.

THE MYRIAD

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE: Their first game at home was all the more important as they looked for their first win of IPL3.Boucher was in for Van De Merwe as Goswami was benched for Vinay Kumar.

KINGS XI PUNJAB: A comprehensive lose to Daredevils delineated the loopholes for the Punjab outfit, openers needed to give the firepower, though Bopara looked convincing, middle order needed to click and bowlers had to bowl with much  more conviction. Sangakarra dropped Romesh Pawar for offie Bipul Sharma.

Sangakarra won the toss elected to bat first

KINGS XI TO A ROYAL START

Bopara started of well and looked to play the sheet anchor role as both Styen and Kallis treated Manvinder Sultansingh Bisla with an array of short balls, Bisla though not at all convincing against the pacy short ones, was caught in awkward positions, edging and trying to duck, but he survived the adrenaline rush of the Bangalore bowlers. Bisla gradually made himself comfortable as he faced most of the strike in the powerplay. He edged his way to the boundaries and pulled twice of Kallis in majestic fashion, he has got his early nervousness out of the way. Bopara seemed to be content to play the second fiddle, as Bisla danced down the track hitting Kumble for an imperious long off six. He greeted Vinay kumar with another maximum. The duo amassed plenty of runs as Bangalore bowlers continually fed them length bowls.

By the end of 14^th over Punjab were 129/0 at a run rate of 9.21, 200 definitely on the cards. Bisla eventually got out and was soon followed by Yuvraj Singh. Jayawardene then stepped up his game with a wonderful cameo of 13 ball 26, innovation personified the Sri Lankan’s inning, as Bopara flourished in the final over. 204, was the target for the challengers.

GUTSY ONSET

Sangakarra hoped that his bowlers would exploit bowling under lights to make some early inroads. Sreesanth and Pathan though got the ball to swing, but they were not penetrative enough as Kallis and Manish Pandey played out the first few overs cautiously, more importantly without losing a wicket. It was infact in 5^th over Kallis walloped a half tracked from Yusuf Abdulla towards the midwicket boundary for the first six. Pandey then showed some aggression favouring the on side and taking  18 of Pathan’s over. Chawala was introduced into the attack, who bowled in a perfect rhythm reading the batsmen cleverly, resulting a Manish Pandey wicket, Pandey had  played his part with a quick fire 38 of 25.Kallis on the other hand also played some handsome strokes but rotated the strike regularly.

ROBIN’S FUROR

Robin Uthappa came to the crease, as commentator Russel Arnold described him as one of India’s underachiever, truly so, a class act seldom seen to play an innings of substance, and now here was his chance at atonement and he it grabbed with both hands, brutality prevailed as he hit Chawla for consecutive boundaries, then Abdulla for a long on six and a four, before unleashing a torrent of sixes of sreesanth, 25 from that over, tide had shifted to the Royal Challengers ancillary. Robin raced to a 19 ball 50, second fastest in IPL. He is one of the exotic breed whose brute force is as elegant as it can get.

KALLIS SEALS IT

Bipul Sharma had a good start to his IPL career picking up Uthappa in his very first over, as Kohli walked to the middle, I thought Morgan would have been a better choice, but when Virat hit a six courtesy a dropped catch by M.Kaif, the Chinnaswamy crowd roared like anything chanting RCB. Kallis impelled after a valiant knock of 62 of 48 as he hammered Bipul Sharma for 3 humungous hits towards the deep midwicket region. The game was set and duly so Kallis hit the winning runs with an over to spare, he ended up at 89 not out in 53 balls becoming the highest run getter of IPL 3 and a proud holder of orange cap.

RCB 1 _ KXIP 0

FIESTA de IPL: KNIGHTS REBUFF THE CHALLENGE

LINEUP

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS: With a win under their belt, they aimed to carry the day at their home, the Eden Gardens. Rohan Gavaskar was in for Laxmi Ratan Shukla as Kolkata went in with 4 specialist bowlers.

BANGALORE ROYAL CHALLENGERS: To start of with a win is always important, and Banglore would know that a winning momentum can do wonders. Anil Kumble opted for young brigade for the opening match as Shreevats Goswami got a chance ahead of Boucher to accommodate Eion Morgan from the foreign recruit.

Knight riders won the toss and elected to field first.

KNIGHTS TAKE THE INITIATIVE

Kolkata stared of from where they had left the last game, succinct bowling spell, Charles Langeveldt and Ishant Sharma bowled a probing line well assisted by the slowness of the pitch. Bangalore gambled by putting Goswami alongwith Kallis to open even though they had Robin Uthappa in the playing eleven who eventually came at 5 down. The experienced campaigner Charles Langeveldt showered Goswami with an array of well directed bouncers, Goswami was getting wary at each dot delivery; he was moving to the leg side, trying to make room and throwing his bat at about everything. He charged down to another bouncer but was caught at third man. The revelation of 2^nd IPL Mansih Pandey walked out to the middle and walked back without troubling the scorers, Angelo Mathews picked up his first of the match. Another youngster Virat Kolhi also fell cheaply, as Murali Karthik smelled success in the first over itself. Eion Morgan showed glimpse of his approx. 99 lakh worth, when he lofted Brad Hodge coolly over the long off boundary for a maximum, but Karthik stuck again as Morgan’s reverse sweep attempt failed and had to pay the price with his wicket. Dravid tried to build a partnership, and he looked  be in good touch but unluckily Dravid dragged an inside edge to the wicket, Angelo Mathews got his second. At the other end Kallis hung on but was not at his ruthless best for sure. Eventually he survived till the end to post a total of 135 courtesy a massive six and a four of the final over. Angelo Mathews finished with an impressive 4-19 in allotted 4overs.

CLINICAL RUNCHASE

Manoj Tiwary and Brad Hodge had no pressure at all, 136 in any kind of pitch is very gettable.Praveen Kumar and Kallis started of with an intention of picking up early wickets, Tiwary and Hodge though started of slowly but denied any success for the bowlers upfront. But after a farce mix-up, where Tiwary picked up an ankle injury, he stepped on the acceleration crashing Kllis to 2 fours and a six. Tiwary continued as he hoisted Styen for a long off maximum. Hodge joined the party with 2 consecutive boundaries as Kolkata cruised to 52 in 5 overs. Kumble himself came in to bowl the last power play over, but Tiwary with deft touch past backward point and a powerful slog treated himself with couple of fours .Van de Merwe and Anil Kumble restrict the run flow but fail to get any breakthrough. For major part of the innings both Brad Hodge and Tiwary rotated the strike with odd boundaries in between. Van De Merwe got the breakthrough a bit late though, pouncing on a sharp return catch of Tiwary and Hodge getting holed out at long on. Both gone for a well made half centuries. Pujara joined Dada as the equation read 20 runs from 30 balls.No alarm bells rang in KKR camp till now, as Ganguly and Pujara accumulated singles and inched closer to victory. Dada then hit Styen for a mammoth six, typical Dadagiri, getting his front foot out of the way, the ball sailed over long off. Eden Garden Erupted. Ultimately Pujara and Shah completed the formality to hand KKR their second win in as many matches.

THE SHINING KNIGHT

There were many good performances, Angelo Mathews’s 4 -19, Tiwary and Hodge’s magnificent 50s, but the shining Knight at least for me was Eden Garden’s own Dada. Saurav Ganguly was at his tactical best as he rotated the bowlers splendidly, not allowing the batsmen to settle down for one kind of bowling, his field placements were spot on and icing on the cake ,The trademark dads six over long off. He can not  get it wrong at Eden, can he???