South African Jacques Kallis shone with bat and ball on Tuesday to keep the Bangalore Royal Challengers in the hunt for a semi-final place in the Indian Premier League.
Kallis’ all-round performance steered Bangalore to a seven-wicket win over the Delhi Daredevils and lifted them to fourth place.
With just one match remaining for each team in the round-robin format, league leaders Delhi have 18 points and have already qualified for the last four. Chennai Super Kings have 15 points, while Deccan Chargers, Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab all have 14.
PHOTO: AP
On Tuesday a superb all-round bowling display by Bangalore restricted Delhi to just 134 for seven in their 20 overs, which the Royal Challengers passed comfortably with seven wickets in hand.
Seamer Praveen Kumar got the early break for Bangalore by removing Virender Sehwag and Mithun Manhas for ducks in the first over.
Kallis shared the new-ball and frustrated the batsmen, conceding just 17 runs and claiming the wicket of Gautam Gambhir for 27.
South African AB de Villiers, who is chasing Australia’s Matthew Hayden at the top of the run-scorer’s list, lifted Delhi to 63 for three at the halfway stage before Roelof van der Merwe knocked off his off-stump. His knock of 28 included three fours.
Dinesh Karthik chalked up 31 and Yogesh Nayar 20 but the innings was derailed when leg-spinner Anil Kumble claimed two wickets in a tight spell and Praveen returned to get a third wicket in the closing overs.
Bangalore lost Robin Uthappa (1) to left-arm fast bowler Ashish Nehra in the first over, but Kallis and Rahul Dravid steadily built momentum with a stand of 70 off 69 balls.
Dravid’s innings of 38 was terminated by off-spinner Nagar, but New Zealand’s Ross Taylor killed off the Daredevils hopes of pulling off an unlikely victory by blasting three sixes in his 25 off 12 balls.
Kallis was there at the death, finishing with 58 not out off 56 balls.
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