Kallis, Uthappa plunder Punjab into submission

Bangalore: Jacques Kallis showcased a lesson in batting to power Royal Challengers Bangalore to a convincing eight-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday.

Chasing an imposing 204 for victory, Kallis and Manish Pandey provided Bangalore with their best ever start in the competition. Robin Uthappa took over from Pandey with a brutal assault of 51 from just 21 balls as Bangalore as the hosts were on their way.

Uthappa fell after reaching the second fastest IPL fifty off 19 balls, but Kallis assumed charge with a barrage of sixes that took Bangalore to victory with seven balls to spare. The South African was unbeaten on 89 after facing 55 balls and his knock was studded with eight fours and five sixes.

Earlier, Manvinder Bisla hammered his first half-century in the IPL and went on to score 75 from just 51 balls with the help of seven fours and four sixes, while Bopara stroked his second consecutive fifty as the pair added 129 runs for the first wicket after Punjab captain captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and opted to bat.

The openers saw through a probing opening spell from Dale Steyn and Praveen Kumar before picking up pace. Bisla fell in the 15th over but not before putting his side in a commanding position.

Despite the failure of Yuvraj Singh (9), Punjab kept their momentum as Bopara and Mahela Jayawardene (26 not out) guided the team to an imposing total. Bopara was out in the final over for 77, having faced 50 balls.

Teams:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Anil Kumble (capt), Jaques Kallis, Manish Pandey, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Robin Uthappa, Eoin Morgan, Mark Boucher, Praveen Kumar, R Vinay Kumar, Anil Kumble.

Kings XI Punjab: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Ravi Bopara, Manvinder Bisla, Mahela Jayawardene, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Bipul Sharma, S Sreesanth, Yusuf Abdullah.