Royal Challengers Thump Kochi Tuskers Kerala

Royal Challengers Thump Kochi Tuskers Kerala

Tillakaratne Dilshan scored an unbeaten half-century as the Royal Challengers Bangalore eased to victory over the Kochi Tuskers Kerala

©REUTERS/Philip Brown (SRI LANKA - Tags: SPORT CRICKET) Picture Supplied by Action Images

Royal Challengers Bangalore 128-1 (Dilshan 52no) beat
Kochi Tuskers Kerala 125-9 (Aravind 2-20) by 9 wickets
Indian Premier League 2011, Bangalore
Scorecard

Royal Challengers Bangalore thrashed Kochi Tuskers at Bangalore, emerging victorious by nine wickets with nearly seven overs to go.

It boosted their chances of an Indian Premier League 2011 play-off spot as they have to contend mainly with Rajasthan Royals, while Kochi let themselves down badly.

It started poorly for them as after choosing to bat, they just didn’t put a good enough total on the board that would be challenging enough for Bangalore’s awesome batting prowess. In fact they had gotten off to a more than decent start with Brendon McCullum and Michael Klinger put on 43 runs for the first wicket in 5.3 overs.

That was when McCullum got out and when Klinger was bowled by Chris Gayle in the 9th over, the floodgates began opening slowly. McCullum made 24 runs and Klinger got 22, accounting for two of the top three scores for Kochi today.

From 64 for two, they collapsed to 89 for five eating up six overs and the damage was done. Parthiv Patel was run put while Mahela Jayawardene and Brad Hodge were dismissed cheaply to leave their innings reeling.

Ravindra Jadeja played another rearguard hand, making 23 runs off 22 balls, with two fours as he helped them cross the hundred run mark and eventually finish at 125 for nine in their full quota of twenty overs. Daniel Vettori picked two wickets as also did Sreenath Aravind and there were no doubts about Bangalore making a chase of it.

And then Chris Gayle and Tilakratne Dilshan came out, just to showcase how easy it was going to be for them. 20 runs came off the second over and 37 runs off the third as Bangalore raced to 66 for no loss in three overs. Dilshan made few of those as the mighty West Indian smashed Prasanth Parameswaran for four sixes and three fours in a seven ball over.

He made 44 runs off 15 balls with five sixes in total. He was out at the same score, the team total reading 67 for one in the fourth over, but the match was already over. Dilshan then went on to complete his half-century in a controlled manner, ending not out at 52 off 31 balls, his best score in the season yet. Giving him company was Virat Kohli who was unbeaten on 27 runs off 33 balls as the Challengers romped home in style.

Chetan Narula

Cricket World 2011