Saturday, May 9, 2009

Highest Ever 1st Innings Score in 20 Twenty - 222/3

McCullum takes Kolkata Knight Riders to 222 for 3

Brendon McCullum hit a blazing 73-ball unbeaten knock of 158 to guide Kolkata Knight Riders to a massive 222 against Bangalore Royal Challengers in the lung opener of the Indian Premier League here on Friday.

McCullum went berserk right from the word go as he hit Zaheer Khan for 18 runs in the second over of the innings after being put in to bat by hosts skipper Rahul Dravid at Chinnaswamy stadium.

The Kiwi player then hit a towering long-off six off Ashley Noffke to bring up the 50 for Knight Riders in just four overs.

The wicket-keeper batsman was difficult to contain as he showed no mercy and hit all the bowlers all around the park.

McCullum's scintillating innings was studded with 13 sixes and 10 boundaries.

Zaheer Khan drew the first blood for the hosts when he had Kolkata skipper Sourav Ganguly (10) caught by South African Jaques Kallis in the slip cordon.

But only after Ganguly and McCullum had put on 61 runs for the first wicket to lay a strong foundation for a big total.

McCullum drove Noffke for a couple to get his century, leading to wild celebrations among the team owner Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan and his colleague Arjun Rampal.

Kallis and Noffke bore the brunt of McCullum fury conceding 42 and 48 runs respectively in their quota of four overs.

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