On This Day: Brendon McCullum kick-starts IPL with maiden T20 century vs RCB at Chinnaswamy Stadium

Brendon McCullum kick-starts IPL with maiden T20 century: Knight Riders’ opening batsman set the stage on fire in first-ever IPL match.

On this day in 2008, the then Kolkata Knight Riders opening batsman Brendon McCullum gave the best-possible start to the Indian Premier League after he scored his maiden T20 century to set the stage on fire at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

After the then Royal Challengers captain Rahul Dravid won the toss and invited the visitors in to bat, McCullum remained watchful for an over only to hit RCB pacer Zaheer Khan for three fours and a six in the second over.

Having gained that initial momentum, McCullum continued to punish the RCB bowlers to all parts of the ground to lay the foundation of one of the topmost T20 innings ever.

With Knight Riders scoring 61/1 in the powerplay, McCullum contributed 41 (20) and showed no signs of stopping as the fielding restrictions were relaxed.

On the last delivery of the ninth over, McCullum ran a couple of runs of Bangalore all-rounder Jacques Kallis to complete his half-century. Having not hit a boundary for a few overs, the right-hand batsman hit two emphatic sixes  in as many overs off veteran spinner Sunil Joshi.

Dravid’s ploy of introducing spinner Cameron White in the 15th over backfired as McCullum hit him for two fours and two sixes. It was on the third delivery of the 16th over that McCullum ran a couple of runs off Ashley Noffke to reach the three-figure mark amidst loud roars from the fans and his teammates.

Batting on 119* with two overs remaining, the then 26-year old McCullum smashed five sixes in the last two overs bowled by Kallis and Praveen Kumar to end up scoring an unbelievable 158* (73) with the help of 10 fours and 13 sixes as Kolkata posted a formidable 222/3 in 20 overs.

Brendon McCullum kick-starts IPL with maiden T20 century

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About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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