Challengers squashed by a one-man army

It’s not every day that a Twenty20 match ends in a 140-run victory. And Bangalore captain Rahul Dravid...

It’s not every day that a Twenty20 match ends in a 140-run victory. And Bangalore captain Rahul Dravid, on the receiving end of the embarrassing result, was left ruing the fact that his team had been beaten by one man.

“It was one of the finest knocks I’ve ever seen,” Dravid said, speaking of Brendon McCullum’s 73-ball 158, the highest score ever in Twenty20. “We were defeated by an incredible innings. Brendon was the difference between the two sides. Every one else struggled on this wicket, but he made it look so easy.”

The stats were indeed remarkable. Consider this: McCullum scored more than all the other players in this match put together — Bangalore’s total of 82 and the 64 that the rest of his Kolkata team put up.

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The 27-year-old from New Zealand, surprisingly, said he had been nervous at the start. “There had been a big build-up, and I walked in there with a few nerves. Going in with Sourav in such an atmosphere was also playing on my mind. I chanced my arms to clear the fence a couple of times at the start. After that I just got into a bit of rhythm, and I just started riding that.”

McCullum said he was looking at the IPL as an avenue to play alongside some international stars and try to gain their respect. “It’s been quite an experience today to come and play like this in the first match, and to help my team win.”

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly said he had been surprised by the way McCullum had batted on a difficult wicket. “It’s a great innings, especially considering the conditions. People bat this way on flat tracks, but the ball was doing something right through. It wasn’t easy to play on this wicket, and such an innings is quite brilliant.”

With this win under their belt, Kolkata are looking forward to their next match against the Deccan Chargers at the Eden Gardens on Sunday, but the Bangalore Royal Challengers will have to get their act together before their encounter against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, also on Sunday.

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“Once we get (Dale) Steyn and (Anil) Kumble in the side, our bowling should get firmed up a bit,” Dravid said. “But we’ll hope this was just a one-off. We tried to go out too hard, too early today.”