Warriors upset Royal Challengers in CLT20 opener

Warriors beat Bangalore at home by three wickets in the Champions League T20 opener

Warriors upset Royal Challengers in CLT20 opener

Warriors beat Bangalore at home by three wickets in the Champions League T20 opener

In a nail-biting finish, Warriors of South Africa yesterday beat home team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by three wickets in the opening tie of the ICC's Champions League T20 at the Chinnaswamy stadium here.

Right: Warriors' Ashwell Prince hits a boundary during the CLT20
against RCB at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore yesterday. Pic/AFP

Chasing a modest target of 173, Warriors cruised to victory on the last ball of the last over by scoring the winning two runs for the loss of seven wickets. Opener Ashwell Prince (74) and Warriors' skipper Johan Botha (42) took away the game from RCB with a brilliant 73-run partnership for the fifth wicket.

Earlier, opting to field after winning the toss, Warriors gave a scare to an upbeat RCB, who started on a disastrous note when their other opener Mayank Agarwal got out for a duck. Though their big hitter Chirs Gayle and in-form Virat Kohli retrieved the situation with a flurry of fours and two sixes, their early departure for 23 and 34 runs disheartened about 20,000 frenzied fans who flocked to watch the opening tie of the league's third edition.

A.B. de Villiers (31) and Saurabh Tiwary (28), however, steered the innings past 100 in the 12th over with sensible batting in the face of a defiant bowling and tight fielding by the Warriors under their spirited skipper Johan Botha.

After middle order Mohammed Kaif (26) and RCB skipper Daniel Vittori (8) carried the modest score beyond 160, their quick departure in the 19th over gave the tail-enders chance to add another 12 runs in the last over. Warriors gave away 11 extras. Juan Theron was the most successful bowler of Warriors with four wickets for 29 runs in three overs, while the remaining four bowlers shared one wicket each.

Brief scores
RCB: 172-8 (V Kohli 34, Ab de Villiers 31;
R Theron 4-29, N Boje 1-25)
Warriors: 173-7 (A Prince 74, J Botha 42;
A Mithun 2-25, D Vettori 2-26)