McCullum Leaves Bangalore in Tatters!!

Brendon McCullum's merciless 158 helped the Indian Premier League on its way in remarkable fashion, as Kolkata Knight Riders walloped Bangalore Royal Challengers by 140 runs in a one-sided game on Friday night.

McCullum's score is the highest in T20 cricket, beating the previous mark by 17 runs. The short-statured but strong-armed wicketkeeper from New Zealand hit 13 sixes and 10 fours in a breathless exhibition of batting before a packed house at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Kolkata's score of 222-3 in seam-friendly conditions under lights was too much for Bangalore, who had chosen to field.

Embarrassed at home

After Bangalore lost captain Rahul Dravid to Ishant Sharma's first ball, there started a sombre procession of wickets in an embarrassing performance where extras was the joint top scorer with 18.

It was McCullum's day from the start. He kick-started the innings in style in the second over from Bangalore's Zaheer Khan - three cross-bats for four and miscued pull that flew over third man for six set the tone. McCullum had moved to 29 by the time his opening partner, captain Sourav Ganguly scored his first runs. The fifty of their innings was up off the last ball of the fourth over. Ganguly fell for 10 to Zaheer, and in came Ricky Ponting. He wasted no time in moving to 20, the highlight of his innings being a trademark hook off Jacques Kallis for six.

Breathtaking pace

McCullum crossed 50 in 32 balls, 100 in 53 and 150 in 70 balls. Not a shot from his blade went wrong, not even the mistimed ones that flew over the fence comfortably. The previous record for the highest score was Cameron White's 141 not out. Today, White was at the receiving end, hit by McCullum for 23 runs in his only over.

The Kiwi went into the last over on 136. Two huge sixes off the first two balls took him past the record in style. His 14 sixes is also a record for most sixes in a T20 innings, comfortably beating Chris Gayle's 10 during his 117 that had started off the Twenty20 World Cup in similar style last year.

No bravado from Bangalore

Kallis had been famously kept out of South Africa's T20 side last year. Today, he had the whole stage to him to prove he can be equally spectacular in this variety.A huge six over extra cover started his innings. But he hit the very next ball to mid on. Ajit Agarkar is making a comeback of sorts to cricket and he had a useful outing, finishing with three wickets.

With edges flying all around, Ponting's slip catching was easy on the eyes. He gobbled Wasim Jaffer and B Akhil with consummate ease. After Bangalore were reduced to 4-24 in the sixth over, the rest of the game became a formality. Ganguly chipped in with two wickets after Ishant's fiery spell.

Highlights Of IPL Launch!!

Cinema, cricket and commerce will combine to make a heady mix when the DLF IPL debuts this evening in Bangalore with SRK's Kolkata Knight Riders taking on Vijay Mallya's Bangalore Royal Challengers.
Clash of 'kings': Cheerleaders from the US, Bollywood stars, foot-tapping music and a laser show will herald cricket's richest event this evening. The DLF IPL, with Bangalore Royal Challengers taking on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Friday.

• A 45-minute long ceremony would precede some entertainment with foot-tapping music and a laser show to herald cricket's richest event.
• Nearly an hour of glitz and glamour show will precede some serious Twenty20 cricket between the teams led by two former India captains, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.
  One of the highlights of the ceremony would be when all the captains jointly read out a pledge reaffirming the IPL's faith in the spirit of cricket.
• Other attractions of the opening ceremony include fireworks, aerial gymnasts and the presence of Shah Rukh Khan and Priety Zinta, co-owners of the Kolkata and Mohali franchises respectively.

Spotlight toss: The Chinnawamy Stadium would be plunged into darkness as Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, skippers of the Bangalore Royal Challengers and Kolkata Knight Riders, respectively, would walk out for the toss. The spotlights would focus on the two skippers

• One or two players from the fielding side would be "miked up" to chat with the commentators during the match.
• In a bid to attract more fans to the stadium, 12 cheerleaders from the Washington Redskins, the 'First Ladies of American Football' have been flown in.

Lights and music light up Bangalore at IPL launch!!

Shankar-Ehsan-Loy got off the Indian Premier League to a musical start in front of a jam-packed Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. The first game of the IPL - Bangalore Royal Challengers against Kolkata Knight Riders - is scheduled for a start at 8 pm local time.

Bangalore won the toss and elected to field on a wicket that looked firm and in conditions that might assist swing bowling. The musical trio treated the Bangalore crowd to some of their recent hits like Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. A light and sound show followed as artists walked the park on stilts. Fireworks lit up the sky just before the Bangalore CEO Charu Sharma introduced IPL's governing committee members Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri.

Shastri then took charge of the proceedings and introduced the eight captains of the IPL teams, starting with local hero Rahul Dravid and ending with Mumbai Indians' captain Sachin Tendulkar. Shastri also called the captains to come forward and sign the MCC Spirit of Cricket declaration. IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi then began a lengthy speech much against the wishes of an impatient crowd, but not before long, he declared the tournament open.

"Aegan" In Vizag!!

Ajith's ‘Aegan’ is on at a brisk pace. Directed by Raju Sundaram and produced by Ayngaran International, the movie is being shot in Vishakapattinam at a rapid pace.Ajith sports a fresh look and is shaking legs with Nayantara. Touted to be an action-packed thriller, ‘Aegan’ is a movie laced with action, humor and romance.

With fans thronging in large numbers to have a glimpse at Ajith, Raju Sundaram has hired few private security personnel to exercise vigil at the shooting spot.The first schedule of the movie was shot in Hong Kong.

The Hour That Made The Difference!!!

After matching India blow for blow on the most alien of surfaces and conditions for two days, South Africa slipped up - decisively - in the first hour with the kind of display in the field that is usually associated with their rivals. It's India who are supposed to struggle with getting the tail out, but here South Africa allowed 46 runs to be added for the last wicket, and once that happened, they were always likely to struggle to get back on level terms.

Mickey Arthur had sounded the warning yesterday, saying they needed to get the last wicket "ASAP", but Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini, the bowlers who began the day, made a wayward start. They slipped quite a few down the leg side or full on the stumps.

Every streaky run by run, South Africa saw the match slip away at the hands of Nos. 10 and 11. Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma played the sort of irritating knocks that every opponent dreads. When they edged, they either found the gaps or one of the South African fielders in a rare inattentive moment, and when a mis-hit finally found two hands, it was off a no-ball. To rub salt into their wounds, an edged boundary would immediately be followed by an immaculate forward-defensive push. Smith tried all the bowling changes, the bowlers tried different things, but nothing worked until Sreesanth and Ishant had worked "some magic", as Sourav Ganguly had put it yesterday, taking the lead from 23 to 60. This is the second time in recent Tests that the India's last wicket has troubled South Africa - in Johannesburg in 2006-07, Sourav Ganguly and VRV Singh had added 44 in another low-scoring game.

On a pitch which was misbehaving increasingly, South Africa's only chance to get back was to get quick runs. Scoring runs off every opportunity, before the inevitable unplayable delivery came along, was the only way to bat on a pitch like this one. That is exactly what Graeme Smith, Neil McKenzie, Hashim Amla, VVS Laxman, and Ganguly did to counter these conditions in the first innings.

In the second innings, though, the South African batsmen seemed to have forgotten the value of looking to score on this pitch. Much of this was to do with the Indian bowling and the condition of the pitch, but a lack of intent to score was conspicuous. Till this match, their gameplan against spin had worked perfectly well, but this pitch required something extra: some out-of-the-box adjustments, which usually comes with prior experience of batting on such pitches. Ganguly and Laxman did that, but the South African batsmen could not.

The Indian bowlers deserve credit too for bowling much better than they did in the first innings. They were the better equipped side to utilise the conditions, and they did it perfectly in the second innings. Mahendra Singh Dhoni's move to open with Harbhajan Singh was a smart one, as he had seen the fast bowlers spray the new ball around in the first innings. This time India made a controlled start, making sure a repeat of first innings wouldn't happen this time round. And when they saw a lack of intent from the batsmen, they knew it was only a matter of time when venomous deliveries would get the edges even if the batsmen had moved back and across in the most perfect manner.

The lack of boundaries was the most conspicuous difference between South Africa's first and second innings. McKenzie had hit the third ball of the first innings for four; the first four in the second innings came in the ninth over. Smith played 66 balls before he hit his first boundary. Consequently, a partnership that lasted 11.3 overs hardly put India off their track as it added 26 runs only. All along the bowlers knew they would be able to bowl deliveries that would be vicious, which is what McKenzie and Amla got in quick succession.

The 16-over third-wicket partnership between Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis fetched 38 runs, which just about got them past the deficit they had started with. During the course they kept getting unplayable balls, which only accentuated doubts in the heads of the two at the crease and others who followed.

For two remarkable days, South Africa had not let the pitch get to their heads, playing the ball and not the pitch. And although there was no shame in losing in conditions none of them would have encountered before, they might just have missed a trick on the final morning.

Inspirational Video!!!

Aegan Heads to Vizag!!

Thala Ajit is back to his normal looks. He has shaved of his shaggy beard and is spotting a new look for Raju Sundaram directed Aegan, being produced by Ayngaran International.
Last week Raju choreographed a peppy number tuned by music director Yuvan Shankar Raja which has a lot of cat calls and whistling on the lead pair Ajit and Nayanthara at Prasad studios in Chennai.

For the first time after "My name is Billa"…. fame, Ajit and Nayan are together in a song and this time it is a romantic number. Raju has choreographed it in a different style, and Yuvan spend a lot of time composing the number.

After the completion of the song late on Sunday evening, the unit of Aegan left for Visakhapatanam, on Monday for a 10 day shoot in the coastal town. Ajit is happy with the way the film is shaping out, nearly 40 percent of the film will be over after the present schedule.

As of now Aegan will be ready for an August 15 release.