Kolkata Knight Riders humble Bangalore Royal Challengers

Brendon McCullum's incredible unbeaten century coupled with decimating fast bowling helped Kolkata Knight Riders inflict a humiliating 140-run defeat on Bangalore Royal Challengers in the opening match of the Indian Premier League here today.

Put in to bat, the Kolkata team scored a massive 222 for three and then skittled out their opponents for a paltry 82 to begin their campaign in the Twenty20 extravaganza in style.

McCullum produced a scintillating 73-ball knock of 158, which happens to be the highest individual total in T20 games.

The Kiwi wicket-keeper batsman single handedly took the Kolkata team past 200-run mark, punishing all the bowlers mercilessly before a packed house.

McCullum's innings was studded with 13 sixes and 10 fours as he scorched the Chinnaswamy stadium with his amazing stroke-play.

The Bangalore team's run chase was far from ideal as skipper Rahul Dravid (2) was the first to depart when teen sensation Ishant Sharma knocked over his stumps in the second over of the innings.

The Bangalore top-order collapsed like a house of cards as their batsmen buckled under pressure.

Jacques Kallis hit the first boundary of their innings off Ajit Agarkar in the fifth over but only to be dismissed on the next ball, handing a simple catch at mid-on to Murali Kartik.

No top-order batsman from the Vijay Mallya owned team could reach the double-digit mark against a disciplined fast bowling.

Agarkar was the pick of the bowler as he accounted for three batsmen giving away 25 runs in his quota of four overs.

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Merciless McCullum takes Kolkata Knight Riders to 222 for 3

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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