Bangalore lose third game in a row

Ravi Bopara smashed 84 off 59 balls Friday to lead Kings XI Punjab to a seven-wicket win over Bangalore Royal Challengers in the Indian Premier League.

After Bangalore won the toss and elected to bat to total 168-9, Punjab reached 173-3 with an over to spare with Bopara putting on stands of 52 with Karan Goel (19), 40 with Kumar Sangakkara (26) and 66 with captain Yuvraj Singh (30 not out) at Kingsmead.

Bopara hit five sixes and four boundaries to steer Punjab its first win in the IPL, hitting 49 runs from overs 15, 16 and 17.

"We knew it was a batting wicket, so we decided to do a couple of things and try a couple of experiments," Yuvraj said.

Earlier, left-arm seamers Yusuf Abdulla (4-31) and Irfan Pathan (3-35) helped restrict Bangalore. Jacques Kallis top-scored with 62, while Ross Taylor collected 35 and Jesse Ryder 32.

"With dropped catches, you make it hard for yourself," Bangalore captain Kevin Pietersen said. "No one does it on purpose, but it's hard to win games when you do that."

Kallis smashed five boundaries and two sixes in 46 balls and shared in a 61-run stand with Taylor.

Abdulla dismissed Ryder, Pietersen two deliveries later for 0, Kallis and Taylor.

Pathan got out Robin Uthappa in the first over for 0, then bagged the wickets of Praveen Kumar for 13 and Pankaj Singh for 0.