Duminy opens tournament in style

JP Duminy served a snapshot of his form ahead of England's tour to South Africa, smashing 99 not out in a narrow win

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JP Duminy struck a superb 99 not out as the Cape Cobras opened the Champions League Twenty20 with a five-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The Challengers, on home turf, had seemed to have half the battle won when Robin Uthappa (51) and Ross Taylor (53 not out) hammered half-centuries to power the home side to a formidable 180 for four.

Praveen Kumar then claimed wickets in successive overs with the new ball as the South African franchise struggled to get up to speed, but Duminy led a remarkable revival, finishing unbeaten one run short of his century off 52 balls, as the Cobras completed an astonishing triumph with two deliveries to spare.

The victory had seemed unlikely at the end of the first innings as Uthappa and Taylor - along with Rahul Dravid - were handed reprieves as Andrew Puttick’s side embarrassed themselves with a shoddy performance in the field.

The visitors had begun well enough, snaring Jacques Kallis early on, but opener Uthappa set the tournament alight with a rollicking, if not fluent, performance with the bat.

The local lad was dropped on 18 by Charl Langeveldt, the Cobras seamer landing awkwardly on his bowling arm while attempting the catch, the resulting injury ending his spell with the ball.

Uthappa reached his half-century off 38 deliveries but was dismissed immediately after, while the fall of Dravid for 28 and Virat Kohli for 17 in quick succession opened the door for a Cobras revival.

Taylor’s power hitting at the death, however, with four fours and four sixes helped the home side amass 66 from their last five overs and to what seemed a winning total.

Praveen kept the Challengers on target with two wickets in his first two overs, but Duminy settled in and single-handedly swung the verdict in his team’s favour.

He struck eight boundaries and five sixes, just falling short of an astonishing ton as his team triumphed in thrilling fashion.