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McCullum bats Knight Riders to easy IPL opening win

18/04/2008

Brendon McCullum hit a record Twenty20 innings of 158 to help Kolkata Knight Riders to a comfortable victory over Bangalore Royal Challengers in the opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

After a lavish ceremony to mark the launch of the league all eyes were on this opening fixture, and in particular the much-fancied Knight Riders, a side part-owned by Bollywood's Shahrukh Khan and featuring some of the biggest names in world cricket.

The New Zealand wicketkeeper was the star of the match, opening for the Knight Riders attack and hitting 158 not out for just 73 balls, including 13 sixes – the highest individual score in Twenty20 cricket.

In comparison, team-mates Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting managed just ten and 20 runs respectively, but McCullum's efforts were enough to give the visitors a comfortable and ultimately unassailable lead.

The hosts, led by captain Rahul Dravid, managed just a paltry 82 in front of a sell-out crowd of 55,000.

Just one Bangalore batsman reached double figures and, tellingly, they made more runs from wides and leg-byes than any of them hit individually. Ajit Agarkar shone for the Kinght Riders, taking four wickets.

The result, however, was partially overshadowed by controversy surrounding media coverage of the event.