Brendon McCullum's incredible unbeaten century coupled with decimating fast bowling helped Kolkata Knight Riders inflict a humiliating 140-run defeat
BANGALORE: The Indian Premier League is up and running. Pity Rahul Dravid versus Sourav Ganguly and SRK versus Mallya fizzled out.
A 140-run win just wasn’t the right way to finish off the grand evening. The Royal Challengers couldn’t match up to the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Maybe Vijay Mallya should have done a gig or two like Shah Rukh did for each of the 13 sixes and many fours that Brendon McCullum smashed on way to an unbeaten 158. In this three-hour spectacle wherein fortunes change at the batter of an eyelid, the man who seizes the moment, at times rides on his luck and the adrenaline rush, comes up trumps. Brendon McCullum did exactly that.
It’s not known if McCullum’s T20 strike rate of 121-plus took over or whether he was moved by the beauty at the far end — a gleaming super fast Force India car.
Either way he rocked on Friday and gave the IPL the kind of rollicking start that the doctor had ordered. McCullum was bought for $700,000 and more than a three-fold increase on his base price of $175,000. He justified Shah Rukh Khan and his cronies’ decision to splurge on him.
The Bollywood star delivered what was promised by him — entertainment. In the stands he cheered every four and six from McCullum to hand out Dravid a nightmarish evening.
‘Korbo, lorbo, jeetbo’, was playing as Sourav Ganguly with the weight of 10,000 one-day runs; all of them made at a fast clip, entered the arena. Dada’s inspiration doesn’t stem from theme songs, so it seems. After poking around he fell to Zaheer Khan, an India teammate who has made Ganguly his bunny in the past.
McCullum was on a joyride that gained momentum with each passing over. Block-buster numbers that followed each adventurous smash hit off McCullum’s blade only upped his strike rate. Ricky Ponting came and went in a flash and David Hussey didn’t make a big impression. McCullum didn’t take his foot off the pedal.
Chris Gayle, the West Indian maverick, who set the World T20 alight in the inaugural game against South Africa, hasn’t yet joined the Knight Riders. McCullum didn’t let his team miss Gayle as he smashed the highest individual score in this form of the game.
McCullum revealed that he was nervous at the start, given the fact that all the eyes of the world were focused on this first game. The butterflies in the stomach didn’t last too long.
Rahul Dravid did not stay long enough at the wicket. On another day he would have played that ball with a straight bat. On Friday, at home, in the most anticipated match, cricket has seen in a while, he threw caution to the wind.
Looking down the barrel of 222, the Royal Challengers’ leader had to go for the big one. Dravid’s indiscretion helped Ishant Sharma strike gold with his first ball of the day. A $950,000 fast bowler, a revelation in his rookie year, Sharma, put the Kolkata Knight Riders on top.
As Dravid walked back he would have seen from the corner of his eye Sharma pumping his fists in glee. There is a generation gap between Dravid and Sharma; a sea of experience backing the older of the two. But that counted for nothing.
Wasim Jaffer and South Africa’s batting Atlas Jacques Kallis soon departed. It was clear that no beer would flow in the Mallya-owned team’s dressing room.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}