Bangalore Royal Challengers

IPL 2010: Bangalore Royal Challengers beat Kolkata Knight Riders at Bangalore

Robin Uthappa smashed an unbeaten 52 off just 22 balls as the Royal Challengers Bangalore wrapped up a comfortable seven-wicket win over the Kolkata Knight Riders. Uthappa hit three fours and five sixes and his 22-ball innings enabled his side to reach their victory target of 161 with two overs and five balls to spare.

The Knight Riders had reached 160 for nine with Brendon McCullum top scoring with 45 before a collapse, inspired by another impressive bowling spell from Ranganath Vinay Kumar. McCullum hammered five fours and two sixes in his 36-ball innings and the Knight Riders looked set for a big total, Sourav Ganguly having made 33 and Chris Gayle 34. However, Kumar returned three for 23 and no other player could pass 16 as Jacques Kallis also picked up a couple of wickets.

Kallis made just eight before he became the first Bangalore batsman to be dismissed but a partnership of 72 between opener Sridharan Sriram (27) and Rahul Dravid (52) put them in a strong position. Dravid hit five fours and two sixes in 35 balls and the partnership set the stage for Uthappa’s assault, whic confirmed the victory in emphatic style, and reignited the Challengers’ semi-final push.