Ross Taylor smashed an unbeaten half-century as the Royals Challengers Bangalore kept themselves in contention for an Indian Premier League semi-final spot with a six-wicket victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Taylor’s 81 off 33 deliveries overshadowed an unbeaten 84 off 64 from Brendon McCullum, which had helped the Knight Riders reach 173 for four after being asked to take first strike.

David Hussey chipped in with a knock of 43 from 27 deliveries and put on 70 runs for the third wicket with McCullum, but Taylor stole the show.

The Royal Challengers began their chase confidently with openers Jacques Kallis (32) and Jesse Ryder (22) putting on 58 for the opening wicket in fairly good time.

McCullum used five bowlers inside the first six overs but the duo had smashed 46 in the powerplays when Murali Karthik halted the scoring with a tidy spell and a brace of wickets.

The left-arm spinner first sent back Kallis, although the wicket came more through a brilliant catch from McCullum at short cover.

Robin Uthappa was his second victim – caught in the deep – and when Ryder fell to Ajit Agarkar shortly after, the Royal Challengers’ line-up was in danger of unravelling.

But Taylor went on the attack immediately, clubbing Karthik for consecutive sixes in the bowler’s final over and hitting Angelo Mathews for successive boundaries in the next over.

Taylor dragged the Royal Challengers back on course with a 48-run stand for the third wicket with Rahul Dravid and continued to hit boundaries at will after Dravid’s fall in the 16th over.

The Royal Challengers needed 94 from the last eight overs but Taylor reduced the gap to 55 from the last five and 21 from the last two overs, and eventually to five from the last over. He then brought up victory with a six, as the Royal Challengers reached their target with four deliveries to spare, and with Mark Boucher not out on 13.

Tags: Anil Kumble, Bangalore Royal Challengers, Bangalore Vs Kolkata, Brendon McCullum, David Hussey, IPL 2009 News, IPL Scores, IPL Updates, Jacques Kallis, Jesse Ryder, Mark Boucher, Murali Karthik, Rahul Dravid, Robin Uthappa, Ross Taylor, Royal Challengers Vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Shah Rukh Khan, Vijay Mallya

Related posts

• Knight Riders Vs Rajasthan Royals: Super Over proved successful for the Royals (0)
• Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Mumbai Indians: Knight Riders hope for a miracle (0)
• Rajasthan Royals dropped Kaif (0)
• Delhi Daredevils Vs Kolkata Knight Riders: Delhi won by 9 wickets (0)
• Delhi Daredevils Vs Rajasthan Royals: Rajasthan hopes for semis spot (0)

After ending their losing streak, Bangalore Royal Challengers will be looking to maintain their new-found form when they clash with an upbeat Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here on Friday.

Both Royal Challengers and Kings XI Punjab clinched thrilling victories in their last matches. Royal Challengers beat Knight Riders to end their four-match losing streak while Kings XI Punjab beat Mumbai Indians in a low-scoring match.

The Bangalore team captain Kevin Pietersen left for England for the series against the West Indies. Earlier Jacques Kallis was supposed to take over from Pietersen, but now it looks like Anil Kumble or Rahul Dravid might take up the job, as indicated by coach Ray Jennings.

Under Pietersen, Royal Challengers made a brilliant start with an upset win over defending champions Rajasthan Royals. But then lost way only to get back with a thrilling win over Knight Riders.

But what might have worked for Royal Challengers was the changes to their side. They replaced Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor with youngster Shreevats Goswami and Mark Boucher. It worked for Royal Challengers as Goswami made a flamboyant 43 as an opener while the experienced Boucher saw the team through in the final stages.

In the bowling department, barring Kumble and Praveen Kumar none of the bowlers have looked impressive.

Kings XI, on the other hand, are riding high after beating Mumbai Indians for their third straight win.

Kumar Sangakkara and Ravi Bopara have played crucial knocks with good all-round performances from Irfan Pathan. Pacer Yusuf Abdulla has been impressive in the tournament and gave a match-winning performance against Mumbai Indians. Skipper Yuvraj Singh is still to come good.

Tags: Anil Kumble, Bangalore Royal Challengers, IPL 2, IPL 2009, IPL 2009 News, IPL Scores, IPL South Africa, IPL Updates, Irfan Pathan, Jacques Kallis, Jesse Ryder, Kevin Pietersen, Kings XI Punjab, Kumar Sangakkara, Mark Boucher, Preity Zinta, Rahul Dravid, Ravi Bopara, Ross Taylor, Royal Challengers, Royal Challengers Vs Kings XI Punjab, Shreevats Goswami, Vijay Mallya, Yusuf Abdulla, Yuvraj Singh

Related posts

• 4th ODI: India vs Sri Lanka: India lead series with 3-1 (0)
• IPL is important for me says Flintoff (0)
• Deccan Chargers Vs Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma helped Hyderabad win Mumbai (0)
• Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab: Hodge helps Kolkata set 154 target (0)
• Mumbai Indians Vs Kolkata Knight Riders: Getting Sachin, Sanath out early is the key (0)

Bangalore Royal Challengers restricted Kolkata Knight Riders to 139/6 in 20 overs in the 19th match of the second edition of the Indian Premier League at Kingsmead in Durban on Wednesday.

Morne van Wyk top scored for Kolkata with an unbeaten 44 that came off 35 balls and was studded with 4 fours. West Indian captain Chris Gayle hit 6 fours in 37-ball 40.

Gayle was dismissed when he hit a KP Appanna delivery to long on where Shreevats Goswami came running from deep mid-wicket and dived to take the catch.

Anil Kumble took 2 wickets in his spell of 4 overs as Kolkata kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Kolkata were 61/3 in 10 overs.

Batting first after winning the toss, Kolkata got off to a worst start possible as captain Brendon McCullum cut the first delivery of the match by his Bangalore counterpart Kevin Pietersen to backward point for Virat Kohli to take the catch.

Bangalore are playing three frontline spinners, but Pietersen, a part-time spinner, opened the bowling and struck with his first delivery.

Kumble struck in his first over when trapped Brad Hodge (17) plumb in front of the wicket by a straighter delivery. Hodge hit a six and a four in his 17-run knock that came off 15 balls.

Former captain Sourav Ganguly pulled a Praveen Kumar delivery to deep mid-wicket for Jacuqes Kallis to take the catch in the ninth over.

Tags: Anil Kumble, Appanna, Bangalore Royal Challengers, Brad Hodge, Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, IPL 2, IPL 2009, IPL 2009 News, IPL Scores, IPL South Africa, IPL Updates, Kevin Pietersen, Knight Riders, Kolkata Knight riders, Morne, Praveen Kumar, Royal Challengers Vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Shah Rukh Khan, Shreevats Goswami, Sourav Ganguly, Vijay Mallya, Virat Kohli

Related posts

• Chennai Super Kings Vs Knight Riders: Match called off due to Rain (0)
• Mumbai Indians Vs Rajasthan Royals: A battle between Sachin and Warne (0)
• Delhi Daredevils Vs Rajasthan Royals: Delhi won by 14 runs (0)
• McGrath may not return for next IPL (0)
• IPL to miss top players (0)

High on confidence after two successive victories, Delhi Daredevils will strive to continue with the winning momentum while a struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore will try to recapture the lost sheen they started with when the two teams lock horns in an Indian Premier League match here on Sunday.

The Delhi team, by virtue of their back-to-back wins against Kings XI Punjab and last year’s runner-up Chennai Super Kings, is comfortably placed second in the points tally.

In contrast, the Vijay Mallya-owned Bangalore team tamed defending champions Rajasthan Royals in their campaign-opener comprehensively but since then lacking the consistency and languishing on the seventh slot in the tally after losing three encounters on the trot.

The Delhi side will surely count upon their formidable batting line-up with skipper Virender Sehwag joining hands with his Team India opening partner Gautam Gambhir to start the innings, followed by South Africa batsman AB de Villers. The Protea played a beacon with his 54-ball 105 to guide Daredevils to victory in the last match against Chennai and the team will expect another blistering knock from the cricketer on Sunday.

With cricketers like Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan and New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori figuring in the middle order besides ‘keeper Dinesh Karthick and Bengal boy Manoj Tiwary, Delhi batting line-up will be a hard nut to crack.

In bowling department, Delhi cricketer Pradeep Sangwan who scalped 3- 28 in last outing, will find support from the Australian Dirk Nannes and Indian Ashish Nehra. Besides, experienced spinner Vettori will also add to the worry of the Pietersen-led Bangalore side, which was handed a seven-wicket defeat by the Punjab team yesterday.

Former England skipper Pietersen, is surely under pressure and will do everything to prove their first-match win was not a false dawn.

Their Batting department has been inconsistent so far but the opening pair of Kiwi all-rounder Jesse Ryder, who made 32 in last match, and Robin Uthappa has to do a decent job if the Bangalore team to win the match.

However, Protea Jaques Kallis and Kiwi Ross Taylor are seemingly recapturing their touches and may well come out with some crucial innings in Sunday’s encounter.

Their bowling department is lacking the penetration power since they skittled out the Rajasthan team for a paltry 58 in the first tie, thanks to Anil Kumble’s five-for, but failed to do the trick in the subsequent matches.

Tags: Ab De Villiers, Anil Kumble, Ashish Nehra, Bangalore Royal Challengers, Chennai Super kings, Daniel Vettori, Daredevils, Delhi Daredevils, Dilshan, Dinesh Karthick, Gautam Gambir, IPL 2, IPL 2009, IPL 2009 News, IPL Scores, IPL South Africa, IPL Updates, Jacques Kallis, Jesse Ryder, Kevin Pietersen, Manoj Tiwary, Rahul Dravid, Robin Uthappa, Ross Taylor, Royal Challengers, Royal Challengers Vs Delhi Daredevils, Vijay Mallya, Virender Sehwag

Related posts

• Dhoni and Yuvraj hold top spots in ICC ODI Rankings (0)
• IPL time extended by 15 mins (0)
• Chennai Super Kings Vs Rajasthan Royals: Badrinath, Hayden lead to Chennai victory (0)
• Sachin moves up the ODI Ranking (0)
• Delhi Daredevils Vs Kolkata Knight Riders: Kolkata struggling for a win (0)

After falling prey to the rain Gods fury twice, the struggling Kings XI Punjab will hope for better luck this time while Royal Challengers Bangalore will strive to get into the groove when the two teams cross swords here on Friday.

Things are not really falling in place for the Punjab team, who are languishing at the bottom of the table after losing first two encounters after the heavens opened up at crucial junctures on both occasions, forcing the umpires to apply the Duckworth-Lewis method.

The Yuvraj Singh-led side lost their campaign-opener against the Delhi Daredevils by ten wickets before going down to the Shah Rukh Khan-owned Kolkata Knight Riders in another rain-truncated encounter.

Although they are yet to open their account a week into the IPL’s second edition, the Punjab team undoubtedly possesses a mighty batting order, led by stylish left-hander Yuvraj himself, and is poised to take on Bangalore’s bowling line-up consisting erratic paceman Dale Steyn, Praveen Kumar and Kiwi all-rounder Jesse Ryder, apart from Jacques Kallis and Anil Kumble.

Yuvraj, who scored a brisk 28-ball 38 in the match against the Kolkata side, will also count on Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara and his country-mate Mahela Jayawardene for timely contributions.

On the other hand, Royal Challengers started their journey in style by comprehensively beating defending champions Rajasthan Royals by 75 runs, but since then, they are suffering from lack of consistency. Skipper Kevin Pietersen will surely draw from his experience to recapture the form they showed in the first match.

Besides Pietersen, the onus of building the innings will also be on star all-rounder Kallis and Rahul Dravid, whose 48-ball 66 was the cornerstone of Bangalore’s win against the Royals.

With the team management adamant on continuing with Robin Uthappa behind the sticks instead of South African Mark Boucher, the Karnataka cricketer also has to play his part as an opening batsman to lay the foundation for a fighting total or to chase a stiff target.

Tags: Anil Kumble, Bangalore Royal Challengers, IPL 2, IPL 2009, IPL Updates, Jacques Kallis, Jesse Ryder, Kevin Pietersen, Kings XI Punjab, Kumar Sangakkara, Preity Zinta, Rahul Dravid, Royal Challengers, Royal Challengers Vs Kings XI Punjab, Uttappa, Vijay Mallya, Yuvraj

Related posts

• DLF IPL 2 – Finals – A Journey from Bottom to Top for Deccan Chargers (0)
• Delhi Daredevils Vs Kings XI Punjab: Rain delays start, Daredevils wins toss, chose to field (0)
• Royal Challengers vs Rajasthan Royals: Praveen Kumar registers hat-trick (0)
• Delhi Daredevils Vs Kings XI Punjab: A Clash between the equals (0)
• India vs Sri Lanka: Sehwag smashes to create history (0)

Bangalore Royal Challengers skipper Kevin Pietersen won the toss and opted to bat against Rajasthan Royals in their first Indian Premier League match at Newlands cricket ground here on Saturday.

The Teams:

Bangalore Royal Challengers: Kevin Pietersen (C) Jesse Ryder, Robin Uthappa, Ross Taylor, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, B Akhil, R Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar, Anil Kumble, Dale Steyn.

Rajasthan Royals: Shane Warne (C), Graeme Smith, Swapnil Asnodkar, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, D Mascarenhas, Mahesh Rawat, Tyron Handerson, Niraj Patel, Kamran Khan, Munaf Patel.

Tags: Anil Kumble, Bangalore Royal Challengers, IPL 2, IPL 2009 News, IPL South Africa, Kevin Pietersen, Newlands, Rahul Dravid, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers, Royal Challengers Vs Rajasthan Royals, Shane Warne, Shilpa Shetty, Vijay Mallya

Related posts

• Worst bowling cost us loss against Kolkata says Dhoni (0)
• Dhoni insured for $10.5 mn (0)
• Royal Challengers Vs Delhi Daredevils: RC set 150 target (0)
• Pietersen to Captain Royal Challengers (0)
• Delhi Daredevils Vs Kolkata Knight Riders: Kolkata struggling for a win (0)

Cape Town is getting ready for the biggest celebrity invasion of the year as the off-field stars of the Indian Premier League (IPL) converge on the Mother City.

As a popular holiday destination and film-shoot location, Cape Town is no stranger to the rich and famous, but with the glamorous Twenty20 tournament due to start here Saturday, the city is set for a different sort of invasion.

The eight teams in the Indian competition are owned by some of the biggest Bollywood stars and richest people in the world, who will stay at Cape Town’s new five-star hotel, One and Only.

Officially opened by local hotelier Sol Kerzner just two weeks ago, One and Only was built with celebrities in mind, and extravagant rooms cost between 610 and 3,880 dollars per night in the low season.

The IPL task team are camped at the hotel as the tournament approaches, and confirmed that celebrities were expected to arrive from Tuesday.

“All the franchise owners, Shah Rukh Khan, Shilpa Shetty, Preity Zinta, the Ambanis, will arrive today,” organisers told.

“The only exception is Bangalore owner Vijay Mallya, who will come next week as he first wants to watch his Formula One team, Force India, compete in the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.”

Khan is one of Bollywood’s biggest stars and owns the Kolkata Knight Riders, while Shetty is co-owner of the Rajasthan Royals and a former winner of Celebrity Big Brother.

Fellow actress Preity is part-owner of the Kings XI Punjab franchise and will jet in from Port Elizabeth where she has been watching the team train and attending the fourth ODI between South Africa and Australia.

Business tycoon Mukesh Ambani is the head of the fourth-richest family in the world, and owns the Mumbai Indians through his conglomerate Reliance Industries.

If that weren’t enough, the various wives and girlfriends (WAGS) of the players due to compete in the IPL opening weekend will add extra sparkle around Cape Town.

England batsman Kevin Pietersen will return to his homeland Thursday with wife Jessica Taylor, a reality TV star who recently competed in the English show Dancing On Ice.

Indian actress Lakshmi Rai is expected to spend some time in Cape Town watching India’s heartthrob captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, with the duo rumoured to be dating.

Celebrity watchers will hope Andrew Symonds’ girlfriend Katie Johnson, recently voted Australia’s top WAG in an online poll will add some Australian flavour by following his exploits with the Deccan Chargers.

And there’s the local contingent, with Jacques Kallis’ model partner Shamone Jardim and actress Jeanne Kietzmann, girlfriend of Dale Steyn, set to represent the host nation at gatherings set to dazzle South Africa’s fairest city.

Tags: Cape Town, Chennai Super kings, Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils, Dhoni, IPL 2, IPL 2009 News, IPL venue, Jacques Kallis, Kevin Pietersen, Knight Riders, Mukesh Ambani, Mumbai Indians, Preity Zinta, Rajasthan Royals, Reliance, Royal Challengers, Sachin, Shah Rukh Khan, Shilpa Shetty, Symonds, Vijay Mallya

Related posts

• Mumbai Indians Vs Kolkata Knight Riders: Mumbai Indians pose with a great Victory (0)
• India Vs New Zealand: Wellington Test, Day 2 (0)
• IPL 2- Points Table (0)
• McGrath hopes for IPL 2 (0)
• Champions League T20: Squad (1)

Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen has been named as the captain of his new Indian Premier League side, the Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Owner Vijay Mallya confirmed the decision over the weekend, despite Pietersen only being available for three of the IPL’s six weeks.

Bangalore finished last season’s IPL seventh out of eight teams, with just four wins from their 14 matches, and were criticised by fans. And it is thought that Mallya hopes the appointment of a more expensive captain to replace former Indian Test skipper Rahul Dravid.

“I am pleased to announce that the captain of Bangalore Royal Challengers will be Kevin Pietersen,” said Mallya, who confirmed that South Africa’s Jacques Kallis will take over as captain when the Englishman leaves.

“Kevin’s travel schedule is being finalised. He will come in time to captain and perform for the team.”

Pietersen was signed by Bangalore for a record $1.55 million (£1.1 million) at auction – joining fellow newcomer, England’s Andrew Flintoff, in breaking the previous mark of $1.5 million for Indian wicketkeeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Tags: Andrew Flintoff, Jacques Kallis, Kevin Pietersen, M.S.Dhoni, Royal Challengers, Vijay Mallya

Related posts

• Sachin moves up the ODI Ranking (0)
• Royal Challengers Vs Chennai Super Kings: Chennai Super Kings won by 92 runs (0)
• Flintoff to retire from Test Cricket (0)
• Royal Challengers Vs Mumbai Indians: Kallis and Uthappa led Bangalore to win (0)
• India Vs New Zealand: Wellington Test, Day 2 (0)