CRICSTARS THE STARS OF CRICKET

Andrew McDonald’s  4-21 as Victoria eased past Royal Challengers Bangalore in the first game of the Champions League Twenty20’s second phase.

Chasing Royal Challengers’ 127 for six in 20 overs, Victoria Bushrangers scored 133 for three in 15.5 overs with David Hussey (31 n.o., 15 balls, 2×4, 3×6)

Bangalore strated well scoreing 70 odd runs in first 10 runs, but failed to score quick runs in their later part of innisgs.

With this win Victoria Bushrangers almost booked their place in semis, while Bangalore Royal Challengers fortune depends on other games

Royal Challengers Bangalore Vs Victoria Bushrangers- Champions League T20 Video  Highlights

The scores:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: M. Pandey c & b McDonald 39, R. Uthappa b McKay 13, R. Dravid lbw b McDonald 33, V. Kohli c A. Blizzard b McDonald 6, R. Taylor lbw b McDonald 2, M. Boucher c Blizzard b McKay 5, B. Akhil (not out) 18, R. van der Merwe (not out) 3, Extras (b-1, lb-6, nb-1) 8; Total (for six in 20 overs) 127.

Fall of wickets: 1-39, 2-60, 3-76, 4-79, 5-99, 6-104.

Victoria Bushrangers bowling: Harwood 4-0-28-0, Siddle 4-0-26-0, McKay 4-0-26-2, Holland 4-0-19-0, McDonald 4-0-21-4.

Victoria Bushrangers: R. Quiney c Dravid b Steyn 29, B. Hodge b B. Akhil 25, A. Blizzard b Merwe 21, D. Hussey (not out) 31, C. White (not out) 6, Extras (b-4, lb-7, w-10) 21; Total (for three wickets in 15.5 overs) 133.

Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-95, 3-97.

Royal Challengers Bangalore bowling: Kumble 3.5-0-39-0, Praveen 2-0-10-0, Steyn 4-0-33-1, Akhil 3-0-20-1, Merwe 3-0-20-1.

J.P Duminy  single handedly gave Cape Cobras victory in the inaugural match of cricket’s Champions League with a superb knock of 99 in 52balls with, 8 fours and 5 huge sixes

Bangalore royal  Challengers posted a healthy target of 180, thanks to Robin Uthappa (51) and a late fireworks from Ross Taylor (53 not out). What costed them the match – Ross Taylor missing a sitter when Duminy in in his late 20’s.

Pravven Kumar bowled a impressive first spell take dangerous Gibbs in his first over and dismissing skipper Andrew Puttick, however the rest of the bowlers failed to keep pressure.

Video Highlights Cape Cobras vs Bangalore Royal Challengers

The scores:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: J. Kallis c R. Canning b Langeveldt 8, R. Uthappa c Gibbs b Zondeki 51, R. Dravid (run out) 28, V. Kohli st. Canning b Henderson 17, R. Taylor (not out) 53, M. Pandey (not out) 10. Extras (lb-4, w-9): 13. Total (for four wickets in 20 overs): 180.

Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-82, 3-97, 4-115.

Cape Cobras bowling: Langeveldt 3-0-12-1, Kleinveldt 4-0-45-0, Philander 2-0-21-0, Zondeki 4-0-39-1, Henderson 4-0-34-1, Ontong 3-0-25-0.

Cape Cobras: A. Puttick c Kohli b Praveen Kumar 11, H. Gibbs c Boucher b Praveen 0, H. Davids c Kohli b Vinay Kumar 27, J.P. Duminy (not out) 99, J. Ontong b Merwe 19, R. Canning c Kumble b Praveen 20, Kleinveldt (not out) 5. Extras (b-1, lb-1, nb-1): 3. Total (for five wickets in 19.4 overs): 184.

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-14, 3-62, 4-103, 5-164.

Royal Challengers Bangalore bowling: Praveen 4-0-32-3, Kallis 2-0-18-0, Vinay 3.4-0-40-1, Kumble 4-0-35-0, Merwe 4-0-34-1, Kohli 2-0-23-0.

Finally SRK’s boys got back into winning stream by defeating a strugling Bangalore Royal Challengers by 5 runs in a nervous encounter at Eden gardens

Kolkata Knight Raiders restricted Bangalore 1\to 124 for 4 after posting a challenging score of 129 for seven in 16 overs. Bangalore managed only 53 for three in ten overs and added pressure to themselves, but Boucher (50 not out off 40 balls; 5×4, 1×6) and Cameron White (30 off 16 balls, 3×4, 1×6) fought till the end

Ganguly was surprise pack With his medium-pace bowling, he ended  his spell with one for seven off three overs. he highlight was of course Brad Hodge’s magnificent stop-pick-up-and-throw to run-out J Arunkumar,

Bangalore Royal Challengers Wickets

Kolkata Knight Riders Innings

Bangalore Royal Challengers trashed Mumbai Indians infront of a nosiy Mumbai crowd in there first match. In a match dominated by porteas, Boucher and kallis denied win to Mumbai.

Sachin missed this match and Luke Ronchi, opened the innings with Sanath. Virat Kohli took a awesome catch to dismiss dangerous Ronchi( He had a strike rate of 177 in T20’s). After 17 overs, Mumbai only had 129, but Pollock went on against Bangalore bowlers. Robin Uthappa(48 in 38 ),Sanath Jayasuriya(29), and pollocks 12-ball 28 lifted Mumbai Indians to a challenging 165 for 6 in their first encounter at IPL. Harbhajhan did a fine job as a captain. Zahher Khan looked at his best utilized bounce and controlled the ball very well

Bangalore low of confidence started there reply shakily, while Chandrapual looked confident Dravid was clueless initially but later one displayed some good strokes.

Dravid should come in middle of the innings than open the innings. Virat Kohli Sparked in his short innings, no doubt he will make into India ODI squad very soon. Boucher(39 runs) straight away played beautifully and along with Kallis( 55 run partnership) steered Bangalore Royal Challengers to there first victory

Video Highlights of Mumbai Indians Innings

Video Highlights of Bangalore Royal Challengers Innings

Mumbai vs Bangalore Scorecard

Bangalore Royal Challengers won the toss and elected to field first in the opening match of IPL.

Right from the 3rd over Kolkata Knoght Riders started samshing the ball to all corners of the ground Brendon McCullum lead the onslaught and smashed 158 in just 73 balls with a strike rate of 233. McCullum smashed 10 fours and 13 sixes in his innings. SRK and his filmi friends was overwhelmed by his team performance..at last some solace to king khan

Zaheer Khan got the breakthrough for Bangalore a loose drive from Ganguly, was snapped by Kallis at a wide lone slip. Ponting looke good in his brief innings but was dismissed by kallis for 20disappointed

Bangalore Royal Challengers bowling looks clueless and fielding is pathetic

Chris Gayle, who hasn’t arrived yet in India missed the opening match.

Ashley Noffke has replaced Zaheer Khan after one over and was smashed for 22 runs in his first over what a poor captaincy, why do you need to change bowler only after a over

Ishanth sharama got his first wicket in his very first over..Rahul dravid clean bowled trying to flick and yes Ponting and Ishanth sharam had a hug …Dinda bowled out nervous Virat kohli, and Kallis was dismissed by Agarkar as he tried to pull the ball to mid-on for an easy catch. Ponting took a sharp catch at first slip to dismiss Jaffer. The new guy for Kok A.Dinda is bowling beautifully.

Only hope for bangalore know is a partnership between cameroon White and Boucher

Teams – Kolkata Knight Riders Sourav Ganguly ( c ), Ricky Ponting, Brendon McCullum (w), Mike Hussey, Mohammad Hafeez, Laxmi Shukla, Prasanta Shah, Ishan Sharma, Debabrata Das

Bangalore Royal Challengers Rahul Dravid ( c ), Wasim Jaffer, Virat Kohli, Jacques Kallis, Cameron White, Mark Boucher (w), Balachandra Akhil, Ashley Noffke, Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Sunil Joshi

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After months of hype and drama IPL will kick off from Bangalore Today. Bangalore Royal Challengers will face Kolkatta Knight Rideras at Chinnaswamy Stadium which begins at 2000 local time (14:30 GMT)

Charu Sharma and his team are showcasing cricket matches in a different level a couple of players from the fielding side will be “miked up” to chat directly with the TV commentators during the match, the toss will be done takeing off lights and a spotlight will follow both capatains, blend of fireworks, semi naked cheerleaders flown from USA to support local team, live show by Shankar-Ehsan-Loy, a red-painted tunnel leading from the dressing rooms to the ground(lol some one closely following EPL)

Now coming back to the match

Bangalore Royal Challengers team: Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Mark Boucher, Nathan bracken, Chanderpaul, Kallis, Wasim Jaffer, Zaheer Khan, Dale Steyn, Cameroon White, Virat Kohli, Misbah-Ul-Haq, Abdur Razzak, Ross Taylor, Srivatsa Goswami.

Anil Kumble ruled out through injury. Misbah-ul-Haq will miss the opening clash because of the ongoing series in Pakistan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul is reportedly carrying an injury,but the good news for Bangalore fans is Kallis and Mark Boucher who re supposed to leave to SA will stay back

Kolkata Knight Riders  Team : Sourav Ganguly, Chris Gayle, Ricky Ponting, David Hussey, Brendon McCullum, Umar Gul, Ishant Sharma, Ajit Agarkar, Murali Karthik, Salman Butt, Akash Chopra, Taibu, Sarwan, Cheteswar Pujara, Siddarth kaul, Yashpal Singh, Ranadeb Bose, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Rohan Banarjee, Debabrata Das, Sourashish Lahiri, Mohammad Hafeez, Iqbal Abdullah.

KolkataKnoght Riders will miss the services of Butt and Umar Gul. Karthik is doing a great job in T20’s, Ishanth is in a terrefic fom

Each team can field only 4 foreign players per match. . Chris Gayle, Ricky Ponting,Hussey and Brendon McCullum will represent Kolkata. Kallis, Cameron White, Mark Boucher and Ashley Noffke will represent Bangalore

Prediction – Kolkata Knight Riders will trash Bangalore, even the imported cheerleaders may not help Royal Challengers

Bangalore Royal Challengers

Owner: Vijay Mallya
Official Website: http://www.royalchallengers.com/
Captain: Rahul Dravid

Coach: Venkatesh Prasad

Franchise cost: $111.6 Million

Batsmen:
Rahul Dravid
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Wasim Jaffer
Misbah-ul-Haq
Ross Taylor
Arun Kumar
Appanna KP
Bharat Chipli

Wicket Keepers / All Rounders:
Mark Boucher
Shreevats Goswami
Devraj Patil
Jacques Kallis
Cameron White
Sunil Joshi
Akhil B.
Virat Kohli

Bowlers:
Anil Kumble
Zaheer Khan
Nathan Bracken
Dale Steyn
Praveen Kumar
Abdur Razzak
Vinay Kumar

Bangalore Royal challengers represent Garden city, Bangalore and owned by liquor baron Vijaya Mallya, needlessly to say the Bangalore team was named after UB brand Royal challenge. As said by Mallya “The platform is completely in line with the Royal Challenge profile and brand dynamics. The objective is to further strengthen the Royal Challenge consumer equity.”

South Africa’s Jacques Kallis at $900,000 became the costliest player to be selected to play for the Royal Challengers and Rahul Dravid is there icon player. It will be interesting to see how rahul adopts to T20’s. Notable misses from the team include Robin Uthappa.

The team is more suited for test mataches – Jaffer, Dravid, kumble. I thought Sunil Joshi left international cricket years back, he is a surprise entrant in the Bangalore squad

Strength – Vijay Mallya, a no nonsense sports loving guy, if he finds potential in IPL, he will pour money and can make it a winner team and brand

Weakness – Lack of T20 batsmen, inexperienced squad

Star Players – Misbah-ul-Haq. Need no introduction almost single handedly bought Pakistan to victory in t20 finals. Bracken, Kallis, Boucher may come handy. no bowling sensation Praveen Kumar will be tested

Prediction – My bet they will end up somewhere between 5-7. If at all IPL have test version Bangalore team is my favorite choice

Schedule – April 20: Mumbai v Royal Challengers at Mumbai

April 26: Royal Challengers v Jaipur at Bangalore

April 28: Royal Challengers v Chennai at Bangalore

April 30: Delhi v Royal Challengers at Delhi

May 3: Hyderabad v Royal Challengers at Hyderabad

May 5: Royal Challengers v Mohali at Bangalore

May 8: Mohali v Royal Challengers at Mohali

May 10: Jaipur v Royal Challengers at Jaipur May

12: Royal Challengers v Delhi at Delhi

May 15: Chennai v Royal Challengers at Chennai

May 12: Royal Challengers v Hyderabad at Bangalore