The Indian Premier League commenced back in the year 2008 and the spectators were thrilled to witness the start of the cash-rich league. The first encounter took place between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore in M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore and what an affair it was.
Known for his brutal batting ability, Brendon McCullum showed his class and calibre in the shortest format of the game and proved why he was so lethal on a surface that was a paradise for the batsmen. KKR began with the proceedings after being put into bat by the hosts.
Sourav Ganguly and McCullum opened the innings for KKR and the Kiwi batter didn’t really wait much to take on the bowlers. He began to thrash Indian spearhead bowler Zaheer Khan in the second over of the innings and built upon a solid base for himself for a mighty score.
Ganguly in the meanwhile was sent back in the hut by Zaheer but that didn’t really matter to the Black Caps’ former skipper. The right-handed McCullum took on the bowlers with authority and ended up with an individual score of 158* runs at the end of 20 overs. KKR scored 222 and in reply, Bangalore showed the most dismal play when the Rahul Dravid-led side was bundled out for a total of 82 runs. Just 82 runs.
KKR won the match by 140 runs and grabbed the first ever win in the Indian Premier League. The rest of the season, however, was not as smooth as the first match for KKR.
