Bangalore canter past Kochi

A half-century from AB de Villiers helped Bangalore secure a six-wicket victory over newcomers Kochi Tuskers Kerala.
In a game in which six batsmen past 25 but only one could make it over the fifty mark, it was the South African's staying power that proved the difference between the two teams.
Having won the toss and decided to have a bat first up, Mahela Jayawardene's Kochi outfit got off to a good start.
Opener Brendon McCullum (45) was on the attack from the outset, cracking two fours and a six off the first three balls of the second over, with Dirk Nannes the unfortunate recipient of the Kiwi's aggression.
McCullum's partner, VVS Laxman (36), was more subdued at first, but with the introduction of the spin of Daniel Vettori and the medium pacers of Abhimanyu Mithun, the experienced campaigner unleashed a few big hits of his own.
Tillakaratne Dilshan was the man to break the 80-run opening stand, although the dismissal was rather fortuitous, with Laxman flat batting the ball straight to the man at deep midwicket.
McCullum looked on his way to another memorable opening-game IPL knock but he was the victim of his own innovative desires as he looked to ramp the ball over the 'keeper's head but couldn't get enough on it, looping the ball to short fine leg.
Mahela Jayawardene and Brad Hodge both got starts but none of the Kochi batsman could stay at the crease long enough to propel the score close to 200, with a late flourish from Ravindra Jadeja seeing the home side to a competitive score of 161.
In response, Sreesanth gave the home side the early breakthrough they needed, sending the dangerous Tillakaratne Dilshan packing for just one, with the Sri Lanka edging behind to McCullum who took a good low catch.
With his experienced opening partner gone, Mayank Agarwal set about taking the leading role in the piece, smashing some great boundaries during a knock of 33 off 24.
Like Jayawardene and Hodge in the Kochi innings, Virat Kohli (23) and Saurabh Tiwary (26) both made contributions without sticking around for too long.
It was de Villiers who bucked the trend though, sticking at it until the end. While the game was won in the penultimate over, it was the 18th over that sealed it for the visitors.
With the game hanging in the balance with 33 required off 18 balls, de Villiers clobbered three sixes in Raiphi Gomez's over to ensure that the result was all but secured.