South African’s fairytale run continues as he remains unbeaten for the 4th time in a row
The popular number All izz well was often played at the Brabourne Stadium here on Saturday night but not all was well with the hosts. Mumbai Indians’s hopes of recording their third consecutive win were shattered by Vijay Mallya’s Royal Challengers Bangalore and a certain South African called Jacques Kallis, who has not been dismissed in four innings thus far. The Bangalore team ran away with a seven-wicket win for their third victory in this edition of the IPL.
Nothing went Mumbai’s way on Saturday, their famed batting line-up and strong bowling attack not living up to the expectations. RCB now top the table with six points from four games, followed by Mumbai Indians who have four from three. MI’s defeat on Saturday meant that seven of the eight sides in the league have tasted defeat at least once. Only Kings XI Punjab are yet to register a win.
Having restricted Mumbai to a meagre 151 thanks to seamers Dale Steyn (3/26) and R Vinay Kumar (3/25), it was just a formality for the Bangalore side. They managed to reach the target in the 20th over despite a few hiccups late in the innings.
The ‘unbreakable’ Kallis, slammed a classy, unbeaten 66. Fittingly, he scored the team’s winnings runs in the last over with a straight drive that fetched him four off Dwayne Bravo.
Bangalore got off to a rollicking thanks to Kallis and the young Manish Pandey. Kallis got a life when he was dropped by Ambati Rayudu off Lasith Malinga. It was a great attempt but Rayudu landed on his elbow.
Once the openers got going, they were unstoppable. With the scoreboard reading 85, Harbhajan Singh dismissed Pandey for 40. Pandey’s knock had three fours and a couple of sixes.
Meanwhile, Kallis batted with great responsibility. Robin Uthappa, who came in at No.3, played some big shots scoring 23 off just 15 balls before departing. Virat Kohli was in an aggressive mood, as he thrashed offie Harbhajan Singh for back-to-back sixes before being run out.
Unlike in earlier games, Mumbai struggled to take the total past 150-mark. Sachin Tendulkar (25), Saurabh Tiwary (25), R Sathish (24), Kieron Pollard (21) and Zaheer Khan (23 not out) were the main scorers for the home side.
It was a disappointing start for Mumbai Indians as their opener Sanath Jayasuriya’s bad patch continued and he was sent home in the second over by Dale Steyn. No.3 Aditya Tare played some shots, but did not last long. Tiwary’s entry raised hopes but he too did not make the most of the start he got.
Medium-pacer Vinay Kumar, who had an ordinary first spell, did wonders in his second spell, scalping three crucial Mumbai batsmen to restrict the home side to a modest total. He removed Ambati Rayudu, Sachin Tendulkar and Dwayne Bravo in the 11th over of the Mumbai innings. That was the turning point of the match. After that Mumbai failed to recover till a late burst from Zaheer. Thus, Vinay emerged the bowling hero for RCB, just like Kallis who became the team’s batting hero later in the night.
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