Monday, May 4, 2009

Kallis sparkles for RCB



Johannesburg: After young paceman Dillon du Preez made the early inroads to peg Mumbai Indians back, the second-wicket pair of Jacques Kallis and Robin Uthappa powered Royal Challengers Bangalore, chasing 150, to a nine-wicket victory in the IPL match at the Wanderers on Sunday.

Man-of-the-Match Kallis followed his tidy display with the ball with an unbeaten 69 (59b, 5x4, 2x6). Uthappa was 66 not out (42b, 8x4, 2x6) when Royal Challengers secured its third successive win.

Kallis was all balance and timing. The pick of his strokes was a flick off Lasith Malinga that soared over the square-leg fence.

Uthappa blazing away

Uthappa blazed away square-cutting Harbhajan Singh to the fence, striking Sachin Tendulkar for three boundaries in an over and hitting Dwayne Bravo and Sanath Jayasuriya for sixes over mid-wicket.

Earlier, du Preez, a 27-year-old all-rounder from South Africa, rocked Mumbai Indians with a three-wicket burst. The right-arm paceman made an eventful start to his IPL career when he drew Sachin Tendulkar (11) into a drive and found the outside edge. Rahul Dravid moved swiftly to his right at slip to pouch the edge.

The young Ajinkya Rahana, nicking a delivery in the corridor, perished off du Preez’s next delivery. The in-form Jean-Paul Duminy (1) prevented a hat-trick but did not last long. He miscued a pull off du Preez and was soon walking back.

A fighting Sanath Jayasuriya (52, 43b, 6x4, 1x6) revived the innings. Bravo (50 not out, 40b, 1x4, 2x6), working the ball around, supported Jayasuriya well.

Source:http://www.hindu.com



No comments: