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Kallis fashions Royal Challengers win
Jacques Kallis continued to stamp his authority in Indian Premier League, as he steered Royal Challengers Bangalore to pole position.
The visitors comfortably chased down 151 runs, set by the Mumbai Indians with seven wickets to spare. It also happened to be the first loss in the tournament for the Mumbai Indians.
Kallis hit a masterful 65 not out, which included ten hits to the fence.
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Steyn snaps Jayasuriya early
Dale Steyn gave the best possible start for Royal Challengers as he gobbled up Sanath Jayasuirya off the third ball that he bowled. Steyn who bowled at a fiery pace, had the Sri Lankan veteran plumb in front of the wicket with just six runs on the board.
Jacques Kallis further dented the hosts, when he picked up young Aditya Tare, who was looking good for more. Tare was caught by Manish Pandey for just nine runs.
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Vinay breaks Mumbai's back
Saurabh Tiwary and Tendulkar tried to revive the innings and played some aggressive shots. With the duo maintaining almost eight-runs per over, skipper Anil Kumble brought himself on the scene and it worked immediately.
The wily leg-spinner castled dangerous Tiwary, which started the slide for Mumbai outfit.
Medium pacer Vinay Kumar, was brought on for his second spell and the Karnataka pacer didn't disappoint. He first had in form Ambati Rayudu caught behind by Mark Boucher, then Dwayne Bravo, who was caught in front of the stumps and finally the prized wicket of Sachin Tendulkar, who lost his leg stump, while trying to innovate a shot.
Mumbai were reeling from a decent 71 for three to 76 for six wickets.
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Zaheer Khan chips in with vital runs
Zaheer khan scored a quick-fire 23 off just nine balls, to see Mumbai Indians cross the 150-run mark. Earlier Kieron Pollard and R Satish steadied the Mumbai Indians, which was reeling at 76 for six.
Both took their time and played sensible cricket to stitch a partnership.
However with the innings drawing to a close, the due had to go for big shots, in the process losing their wickets.
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Bangalore off to a flying start
Chasing a modest 152 for victory, the Royal Challengers were off tot a flying start. Both the openers Manish Pandey and Jacques Kallis not only didn't throw their wicket away, but also scored at a brisk pace.
Zaheer Khan and Lasith Malinga did bowl tidy overs, but they couldn't get much purchase from the wicket.
And as Bravo was introduced into the attack in the fifth over, Pandey welcomed him with a massive six over long-on. Not to be left behind, Kallis helped himself to three boundaries in Kieron Pollard's first over - the sixth of the Bangalore innings.
And the South African added two more boundaries to his total in Bravo's second over.
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Harbhajan picks up Pandey
The Karnataka batsman, who played for Mumbai Indians in the inaugural season, scored a 27-ball 40, inclusive of three boundries and three maximums.
He was finally dismissed by Harbhajan Singh, when he tried to chip one over the in field, only to be caught by Pollard at midwicket.
His dismissal also brought to an end an impressive first wicket partnership that yielded Bangalore 85 runs and came off just 59 balls.
In came Robin Uthappa (23) and he was let off in the second ball he faced, dropped by Tare off Jayasuriya.
The Karnataka batsman, another one who started out with the Mumbai team in the inaugural edition, celebrated the reprieve with boundaries of Jayasuriya and Harbhajan and a massive six of Bravo.
But Uthappa paid the price for his extravagance, Zaheer having him caught by Malinga at deep backward square leg.
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Kallis sees RCB home
Jacques Kallis, the incumbent holder of the Orange Cap as the tournament's highest scorer, with 264 runs in four matches thus far, saw his team over the rope with yet another superlative innings.
The South African hit his third fifty of the tournament, with a singe off Malinga. Mumbai Indians tried everything to dislodge him, but he was as solid as a rock.
The all-rounder hit the winning run off Bravo to put them on top to the table.
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