 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Jean-Paul Duminy blazed away to an unbeaten 99 as Cape Cobras beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by five wickets in the opening match of the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 tournament at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Thursday.
Not a single Bangalore bowler was spared as Duminy struck eight fours and five sixes in his scintillating 52-ball knock to power the South African side home in the Group C match with two balls to spare.
Henry Davids (27 off 21) and Ryan Canning (20 off 18) were the other notable contributors for the Cobras.
Praveen Kumar was the pick of the Royal Challengers bowlers, claiming three wickets for 32 runs.
Earlier, Robin Uthappa hit a brisk 51 off 39 balls while Ross Taylor scored an unbeaten 53 off 24 deliveries as Royal Challengers posted a formidable 180.
Cobras' run chase got off to horrendous start as Praveen Kumar found the outside edge of Herschelle Gibbs's (0) bat off the last ball of the opening over.
Skipper Andrew Puttick was Praveen's next victim when his thick edge went to Virat Kohli.
Davids (27 off 21) and Duminy steadied the Cobras' innings with a 48-run third wicket stand before Davids fell prey to first change R Vinay Kumar, caught by Kohli just after hitting the bowler for back-to-back fours.
But Duminy drew on his experience and got the fours and sixes when required to keep alive Cobras' chase.
Needing 53 off the last five overs, Canning stepped up gears, cutting Kohli for four and then Duminy finished off the over with another boundary off the last ball.
The left-hander then clobbered his South Africa team-mate Roelef van der Merwe over the long-on boundary to reduce the deficit to 32 runs off 20 balls.
To the disappointment of Bangalore fans, skipper Anil Kumble dropped Duminy at 74 off his own bowling and the left-hander then added salt to the former India captain's wound by hitting his next ball over the mid-wicket boundary.
Duminy hammered the final nail in Royal Challengers' coffin when he hit two consecutive fours off Praveen, with Cobras needing 17 off nine deliveries.
The 25-year-old middle-order batsman, who plays for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, then finished off the proceedings, slamming R Vinay Kumar over wide long-on.
Earlier, Uthappa scored a brisk 51 off 39 balls at the top, while Taylor scored an unbeaten 53 off 24 deliveries in the middle to take Royal Challengers to a healthy total.Electing to bat, the Challengers started off cautiously and it took a smart shot from Jacques Kallis to hit the first boundary in the second over.
However, Kallis (8) couldn't stay long and perished in the next over after he edged Charl Langeveldt to Ryan Canning, as Challengers were reduced to 14 for 1 in three overs.
Rahul Dravid and Uthappa rode on luck to pick 50 runs off 37 balls as the Challengers crossed the fifty mark in 7.5 overs.
Uthappa, who was dropped on 18, made the most of the opportunity and sent the bowlers on a leather hunt.
Claude Henderson was introduced into the attack in the 10th over and Uthappa greeted him with two boundaries.
The right-hander was at his ominous best as he dispatched Monde Zondeki for two sixes in the next over before Gibs pulled off a blinder at point to dismiss him. He struck seven fours and two sixes in his blistering knock.
The experienced Dravid made 28 from 24 balls before he was run-out.
Virat Kohli played a 14-ball 17 run innings before he was stumped by Canning off Henderson.
But Taylor had other plans as he hammered the Cobra bowlers to all parts of the ground and along with young Manish Pandey put on 65 runs for the fifth wicket in less than five overs to power Bangalore to the formidable score.
Taylor struck four boundaries and equal number of sixes in his breezy innings while Pandey was unbeaten on a run-a-ball 10.
For Cobras, Langeveldt, Zondeki and Henderson picked a wicket each.