Duminy's brilliance dump Bangalore in CL opener

J P Duminy dazzled with the bat with a blistering unbeaten 99 to guide Cape Cobras to a five-wicket victory Royal Challengers Bangalore in the high-scoring opening Group C match of the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament in Bangalore.SPECIAL COVERAGE | SEE PICS| Listen to podcast

The crowd was on their feet as firecrackers lit up the night sky at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Just one run was required off the last three balls in the Cape Cobras' innings and Rory Kleinveldt blasted a four to register a five-wicket win against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

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The hosts were defeated, but it wasn't exactly an upset victory.

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It wasn't exactly a scene of celebration in the Cobras' camp. With Herschelle Gibbs back in the dugout for a first-ball duck, the onus was very much on JP Duminy and skipper Andrew Puttick.

The skipper failed and the Cobras were left reeling at 14 for 2 in the third over. However, Duminy ensured that he stayed till the end to wrap things up for his side. His innings of 99 not out off just 52 balls was a stellar show, full of grit and dogged determination.

Despite the opening collapse, the middle-order batsman held his nerves and returned with a cracking shot everytime the ball beat his bat. From 14 for 2 in the third over, when it seemed that the game was almost sealed in favour of the home team, Duminy changed the momentum scoring more than eight runs an over. At the end of 15, the Cobras were cruising at 127, needing just 54 from the last five overs. He hit Roelf Van Der Merwe for a straight six in the 17th over and with it 29 were needed of the last three.

Unlike the Cobras' butterfingers, sloppy fielding and the full tosses that allowed Kumble and co to post a challenging total, the RCB bowlers were on target right from the word go.

Their agility in the field far excelled that of the Cobras' and the first breakthrough came in the first over with Gibbs' wicket. But Duminy stuck like a thorn in the RCB skipper's skin and, for more than once, forced Kumble to ask the question "what if"?

He scythed the RCB bowlers for shots to the fence and even hit a flat six over midwicket that almost took out a spectator in the stands.

A 61-run partnership with Ryan Canning in the middle overs set up the comfortable run chase, and in the end, even a flamboyant performance from RCB's Ross Taylor and a challenging total of 180 was too little for the marauding Cobras.

Scorecard

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Kallis c Canning b Langeveldt 8
Uthappa c Gibbs b Zondeki 51
Dravid run out 28
Kohli st Canning b Henderson 17
Taylor not out 53
Pandey not out 10

Extras (lb-4, w-9) 13
Total (4 wkts; 20 overs) 180
Fall of wkts: 1-14, 2-82, 3-97, 4-115
Bowling: Langeveldt 3-0-12-1, Kleinveldt 4-0-45-0, Philander 2-0-21-0, Zondeki 4-0-39-1, Henderson 4-0-34-1, Ontong 3-0-25-0

Cape Cobras

Puttick c Kohli b Praveen 11
Gibbs c Boucher b Praveen 0
Davids c Kohli b Vinay Kumar 27
Duminy not out 99
Ontong b van der Merwe 19
Canning c Kumble b Praveen 20
Kleinveldt not out 5

Extras (b-1, lb-1, nb-1) 3
Total (5 wkts; 19.4 overs) 184
Fall of wkts: 1-5, 2-14, 3-62, 4-103, 5-164
Bowling: Praveen 4-0-32-3, Kallis 2-0-18-0, Vinay Kumar 3.4-0-40-1, Kumble 4-0-35-0, van der Merwe 4-0-34-1, Kohli 2-0-23-0.