Kallis-Uttappa Helps 9-wickets Over Mumbai Indians

Johannesburg: It just didn't seem like it was Mumbai Indians' day out at Johannesburg on Sunday and it wasn't just bad luck alone. Their lackadaisical effort also contributed in MI losing to Royal Challengers at the Wanderers.

Thanks to the exploits of debutant Dillon du Preez, MI made a shaky start with Sachin Tendulkar falling early and the next two batsmen, Ajinkya Rahane and JP Duminy, following him quickly.

That, however, was brought back into shape by Sanath Jayasuriya, cracking his second half-century of the tournament, and Dwayne Bravo playing his best IPL innings so far.

Abhishek Nayar's 20-ball 29 further improved the situation and when it seemed like Mumbai would hardly post anything more than 125, these batsmen did well to take the total to 149.

At that point of time, it seemed like Mumbai would go through, especially given the attack they had at their disposal. And that was precisely when most of the things that were to go wrong for Mumbai went wrong.

Zaheer Khan's first over began with Jaccques Kallis hitting him for a boundary and it was the start of an innings that would weave the victory for Royal Challengers.

Bravo was next to be given a similar treatment, this time by surprise inclusion Wasim Jaffer. But Jaffer fell for just seven - Zaheer's only victim - and it seemed like hope flickering for Mumbai.

However, it was Kallis evening here and he just wouldn't let go. Lasith Malinga, Harbhajan Singh, Sanath Jayasuriya, Abhishek Nayar and Tendulkar himself, all bowled and Kallis countered them all.

There was exceptional support from Robin Uthappa who had been drawing a lot of flak. An impressive fifty with some very huge sixes brought him back in focus. Uthappa and Kallis remained unbeaten till the end and RC won by a whopping nine wickets.

Royal Challengers, thus, registered their third straight victory. Rahul Dravid, back after a short leave, was included in the team and while his chaance to bat didn't arrive, Bangalore's new skipper Anil Kumble must be elated with the way things have got going for him in the tournament.

Numbers Game
• 22.83 - Sanath Jayasuriya's average after six innings.
• 10 - The number of wickets picked up by Anil Kumble, the highest for Bangalore.
• 66* - The total runs added for the fifth wicket by Abhishek Nayar and Dwayne Bravo, a record this season.
• 69* - Runs scored by Jaques Kallis today, the best by a Bangalore batsman.
• 126* - The runs added by Kallis and Robin Uthappa for the second wicket, the second best partnership for any wicket.
• 9 and 11 - Bangalore win by nine wickets with 11 balls remaining. The second most comfortable win this season in terms of wickets and also by balls remaining in the second innings.
• 8.70 - Dwayne Bravo's economy rate, the worst for a Mumbai bowler who has bowled more than 15 overs.

Brief Score: Royal Challengers Bangalore 150/1 (Kallis 69*, Uthappa 66*) beat Mumbai Indians 149/4 (Jayasuriya 52, Bravo 50*, du Preez 3-32) by nine wickets.