CENTURION, South Africa, CMC – Guyana failed to ease concerns about their all-round depth in their opening match of the Champions League Twenty20 yesterday, and Royal Challengers Bangalore outclassed them by nine wickets, following a fine all-round performance from Jacques Kallis.
Christopher Barnwell hit just two boundaries in the top score of 30 from 35 balls, as the Guyanese, sent in to bat, were dismissed for 103 in their full allocation of 20 overs in the Group-B match at SuperSport Park.
No other Guyana batsman passed 20, as Kallis was Bangalore’s most successful bowler with three wickets for 16 runs from his allotment of four overs, and Praveen Kumar supported with two for 22 from his four overs.
“We did not get any momentum when we were batting, and there were no significant partnerships, so we did not score enough runs, and our backs were always against the wall,” said Guyana captain Ramnaresh Sarwan.
The Guyanese bowlers then also failed to make an impact on the hard, true pitch, and Bangalore, led by Man-of-the-Match Kallis with four fours and one six in 43 not out from 32 balls, coasted to victory with 46 balls to spare.
Royston Crandon had the delight of snaring the scalp of Rahul Dravid, when the World-famous Indian batsman tried to cut a delivery to close to him, and was bowled for 33 from 34 balls, which also included three fours. He put on 78 with Kallis for the first wicket.
Any thoughts of Guyana gaining a bit of confidence with a few cheap wickets quickly evaporated, when Robin Uthappa joined Kallis, and hastened the finish with two fours and two sixes in 25 not out from eight balls – his second and last four to the wide long-on boundary taking Bangalore over the threshold.
“The majority of our players would never have really played in this type of atmosphere and under these sort of conditions, so it’s a learning experience for them, and hopefully they will learn, and learn every quickly because we need to,” said Sarwan.
Guyana’s batting was always going to be heavily dependent on their four internationally-known batsmen at the top of the order, and they were all dismissed before the 12th over had been completed, with only 59 runs on the board.
Travis Dowlin was caught at fine leg for 10 gloving a short, rising ball after he advanced to Kumar in the fifth over.
Sarwan, easily Guyana’s best batsman, looked in fine touch, when he gave himself room, and lofted Kallis over long-off for a six.
But he tried to cut the next delivery, which was too close to him, from the same bowler, and was bowled for seven, losing his off-stump in spectacular fashion. His innings lasted just three balls.
The Guyanese were 34 for two in the sixth over, and ran into further trouble, when Sewnarine Chattergoon was run out for 18 in the eighth over, when he failed to respond positively to Narsingh Deonarine’s call for a cheeky single, and Cameron White’s throw to the striker’s end from cover was unerring.
Deonarine ended the parade of the “Big Four”, when he was caught at deep mid-wicket for 13 scooping a delivery from Anil Kumble.
Guyana limped the rest of the way, with Barnwell curbing his natural instincts to usher them over the 100-run threshold before he too, succeeded in gifting his wicket.
He backed away, chased a delivery deliberately bowled wide, and was caught behind off the last ball of the innings from Dale Steyn.
The Guyanese face the Mumbai Indians, whose roster includes the Trinidad & Tobago pair of Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, in their second match on Thursday at Kingsmead in Durban, starting at 11:30 a.m. East Caribbean Time.
SCOREBOARD
GUYANA (20 overs maximum)
T. Dowlin c Steyn b Kumar 10
S. Chattergoon run out (White) 18
*R. Sarwan b Kallis 7
N. Deonarine c Taylor b Kumble 13
C. Barnwell c wkpr Uthappa b Steyn 30
R. Crandon c Steyn b Doshi 5
J. Foo c wkpr Uthappa b Kallis 1
+D. Christian c Kumar b Kallis 0
L. Cush c Kumble b Kumar 5
E. Crandon run out (Steyn/+Uthappa) 0
D. Bishoo not out 0
Extras (lb10, w4) 14
TOTAL (all out, 20 overs) 103
Fall of wickets: 1-17 (Dowlin, 4.1 overs); 2-34 (*Sarwan, 5.3); 3-42 (Chattergoon, 7.1); 4-59 (Deonarine, 11.2); 5-70 (R. Crandon, 13.5); 6-75 (Foo, 15.3); 7-75 (+Christian, 15.5); 8-92 (Cush, 18.3); 9-103 (E. Crandon, 19.5)
Bowling: Kumar 4-0-22-2 (w2); Steyn 4-0-23-1 (w2); Kallis 4-1-16-3; Kumble 4-0-10-1; Doshi 2-0-12-1; Akhil 2-0-10-0
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE (target: 104 off 20 overs)
J. Kallis not out 43
R. Dravid b Crandon 33
+R. Uthappa not out 25
Extras (w5) 5
TOTAL (1 wkt, 12.2 overs) 106
R. Taylor, C. White, V. Kohli, B. Akhil, P. Kumar, D. Steyn, *A. Kumble, N. Doshi did not bat
Fall of wickets: 1-78 (Dravid, 10.5 overs)
Bowling: Cush 3-0-19-0; E. Crandon 2-0-20-0; Barnwell 4-0-36-0; Bishoo 2-0-19-0; R. Crandon 1.2-0-12-1
Result: Royal Challengers Bangalore won by nine wickets
Points: Royal Challengers Bangalore 2, Guyana 0
Toss: Royal Challengers Bangalore
Man-of-the-Match: Jacques Kallis (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
Umpires: R. Koertzen, B. Oxenford
TV umpire: A. de Silva
Matchreferee: R. Madugalle
Reserve umpire: B. Jerling
