Cricket Update from the iSport IPL Pavilion: A brilliant innings of 54 from 40 deliveries by AB de Villiers helped Royal Challengers Bangalore chase down a target of 162, beating Kochi Tuskers Kerala by six wickets and start off on a winning note at the Nehru Stadium, Kochi.
Kochi Tuskers Kerala won the toss and elected to bat first, their decision seemed to pay off as they got off to a blistering start as Brendon McCullum and VVS Laxman put up an 80-run partnership for the first wicket in just nine overs. Laxman, who hit two sixes and two fours then departed for 36 off 29 deliveries trying to slog-sweep Dilshan only to be caught at deep mid-wicket.
McCullum went berserk hitting 45 from just 32 balls which included four boundaries and two huge sixes until he was finally caught, trying a paddle shot off Virat Kohli in the 12th over with the score on 93. Jayawardene and Hodge then added 31 runs from four overs before the former was stumped off Vettori in the 16th over. Hodge played a handy innings of 27 from 21 balls as he added 23 runs in just three overs with Ravindra Jadeja. Ravindra Jadeja then played a blistering knock of 23 from 16 deliveries to guide his team to 161 from 20 overs. His 23-ball knock included a six and two boundaries.
In reply, Royal Challengers Bangalore got off to a bad start losing Dilshan in just the second over of the game caught in covers off Sreesanth. Virat Kohli and Mayank Agarwal then added 41 runs in four overs before the former was trapped leg before wicket by Vinay Kumar for 23 off 18 balls. Agarwal continued his aggressive batting hitting 33 off 24 deliveries including two fours and two sixes as he added 37 runs with AB de Villiers before he was removed by Jadeja in the tenth over to reduce Royal Challengers to 85 for 3.
De Villiers and Saurabh Tiwary added crucial 52 runs from 7 overs for the fourth wicket and with 33 runs neded from three overs De Villiers launched his onslaught hitting Raiphi Gomez for three sixes in an over bringing up his half-century off just 40 deliveries. The over was eventful as it yielded the wicket of Saurabh Tiwary and 20 runs and with 13 runs needed, Asad finished off the match in the 19th over hitting three boundaries to seal a six wicket victory.
AB de Villiers was named the man of the match for his match winning innings of 54 from 40 deliveries which included one hit to the fence and five over it.
Result: Royal Challengers Bangalore won by 6 wickets (with 8 balls remaining)
Scores: Kochi Tuskers Kerala: 161/5
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 162/4
Man of the Match: AB de Villiers
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