Bangalore trounce Mumbai for third straight win

Paceman Dillon du Preez (left) of the Bangalore Royal Challengers celebrates the dismissal of Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar during the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 match at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday.

The debutant fast bowler rocked Mumbai with two wickets in his first over. First Tendulkar, on 11 (11 deliveries), was forced to have a go at a wide out-swinging delivery that took the edge straight to Rahul Dravid in the slips cordon.

Opener Sanath Jayasuriya scored 52 from 43 deliveries to help Mumbai Indians score 149 for four in their 20 overs, which, in the end, proved inadequate.

Mumbai Indians, who elected to bat, made a couple of changes, bringing in Dwayne Bravo and Shikhar Dhawan. Bangalore opted to play four South Africans in their line-up, with Preez making his debut, while Wasim Jaffer played his first match in the ongoing edition of the IPL.

A young Mumbai Indian supporter enjoys his time during the match.

Talking at the post match ceremony, Tendulkar felt they didn't score enough.

"Probably 150 was not enough," said the Mumbai Indian skipper, who failed with the bat, managing just 11.

Jacques Kallis went after the bowlers from the start, hitting Zaheer Khan for two boundaries in the opening over.

Earlier Dwayne Bravo played with purpose, looking to score runs at a fair pace with the minimum of risks. He, however, went all out in the 19th over, smashing two successive sixes off van der Merwe.

Abhishek Nayar followed it up with consecutive boundaries off Du Preez in the final over to help Mumbai end up on a respectable 149 for four in their 20 overs.

Bravo finished unbeaten on a magnificent knock of 50, hitting a boundary and two sixes in his 40-ball knock. At the other end, Nayar scored 29 not out from 20 deliveries, inclusive of four boundaries, the two batsmen involved in an unbroken stand of 66 runs in 5.5 overs.

Robin Uthappa took time to settle down, but was very sensible with his shot selection. He cut a short delivery from Harbhajan Singh through the point region for his third boundary as Bangalore reached a comfortable 74 for one at the halfway stage.

Bangalore kept things under control with quick singles and twos even though boundaries were not flowing for a few overs after the strategic time out. Uthappa then opened up with three boundaries off Tendulkar in the 14th over to bring the equation down to 43 runs needed from last six overs.

White Mischief Gals, the cheerleaders for Royal Challengers Bangalore, seem to enjoy as their team cruises to a convincing nine-wicket victory.

Kallis got off to a solid start and then settled down well to finish unbeaten on 69 from 59 deliveries (5 boundaries, 2 sixes) while Uthappa provided the late thrust in a blazing knock of 66 from 42 deliveries, inclusive of eight boundaries and two sixes.

The two batsmen were involved in an unbroken stand of 126 runs in 15.1 overs for the second wicket as the Bangalore side, led by Anil Kumle, registered their third win on the trot and second under the former India captain.