Kings XI Punjab beat Bangalore Royal Challengers

Kings XI Punjab beat Bangalore Royal Challengers and registered their maiden win. Man of the Match was Ravi Bopara whose impressive play helped Kings XI Punjab to win.

Kings XI Punjab were 80/1 in 10 overs in pursuit of 169 against Bangalore Royal Challengers in the eleventh match of the second edition of the Indian Premier League at Kingsmead in Durban on Friday.

Punjab openers Ravi Bopara and Karan Goel added 52 runs for the first wicket before Goel was run out after a run-a-ball 19.

Goel flicked to fine leg and ran fast for two but was not fast enough to beat the throw from Vinay Kumar into the hands of keeper Robin Uthappa who removed the bails.

At the time of the strategic timeout, Punjab had Bopara (32) and Kumar Sangakkara (19) at the crease.

Earlier, Bangalore Royal Challengers scored 168/9 in 20 overs.

Yusuf Abdulla took 4 wickets and Irfan Pathan took 3, as Bangalore kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Jacques Kallis top scored for Bangalore with a 46-ball 62 that was studded with 2 sixes and 5 fours, while Ross Taylor hit 2 sixes and 4 fours in his 35-run knock that came off 22 balls.

Kallis fell to Abdullah as he mistimed a pull off a slower ball to deep mid-wicket for Mahela Jayawardene to take the catch.

In his next over, Abdullah had Taylor too caught at deep mid-wicket by Jayawardene.

Bangalore lost Rahul Dravid (10) in the first over after the strategic timeout when he was caught at long by VRV Singh off Piyush Chawla.

Bangalore Royal Challengers were 71/3 in 10 overs.

Bangalore got off to a poor start when Irfan Pathan had Robin Uthappa (0) caught by Yuvraj Singh at first slip in the second over.

Jesse Ryder hit 6 fours in his 21-ball 32 before he was clean bowled by Yusuf Abdulla.

Bangalore captain Kevin Pietersen, the most expensive player in the IPL, continued his wretched form as he was dismissed for a duck two deliveries later.

Abdulla fooled Pietersen to get his prized wicket. Abdulla dropped his pace by 30 kmph as Pietersen went too early in his shot and hit to short extra cover for Karan Goel to take the catch.

This was after Pietersen won the toss and chose to bat.

Teams:

Bangalore Royal Challengers: Kevin Pietersen (Capt.), Jesse Ryder, Robin Uthappa, Jacques Kallis, Ross Taylor, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, R Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar, Anil Kumble, Pankaj Singh.

Kings XI Punjab: Yuvraj Singh (Capt.), Ravi Bopara, Karan Goel, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Irfan Pathan, Wilkin Mota, Piyush Chawla, VRV Singh, Ranadeb Bose, Yusuf Abdulla.

Credits: TimesofIndia