RCB v Cape Cobras, CL T20, Group C, Bangalore -Taylor fireworks lift Bangalore to 180

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20 overs Royal Challengers Bangalore 180 for 4 (Taylor 53*, Uthappa 51) v

Robin Uthappa paved the way with a belligerent but plucky half-century, being dropped on 18 and miscuing more than a few between catchers, and an astonishing assault from Ross Taylor rounded off a powerful batting performance. Anil Kumble had no hesitation in batting first on a good batting track at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and 20 action-packed overs later the Cape Cobras had their task cut out. They seemed distinctly overawed by the moment and a packed house breathing down their necks, misfielding with alarming regularity and serving up a dozen too many full tosses.

Final report to follow...

Toss Royal Challengers Bangalore opted to bat v Cape Cobras

And so a new chapter in the rapidly growing Twenty20 format began. After a gala opening ceremony reminiscent of the opening night of the 2008 IPL at this very venue, Anil Kumble won the toss and opted to bat against Cape Cobras in the first match of the first Champions League Twenty20.

An estimated 50,000 strong Bangalore crowd gathered much before the event kicked off in anticipation of a cracking game. When Kumble won the toss, a deafening roar went about the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Bangalore went in without Dale Steyn. The Cobras fielded their strongest side.

In a short time frame, cricket as a sport has been noticed globally as a modern and very marketable product. At the heart of that has been the rapid rise of the Twenty20 format. Tonight a new chapter begins, and one that could dictate the future of club cricket.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Manish Pandey, 2 Jacques Kallis, 3 Roelof van der Merwe, 4 Rahul Dravid, 5 Ross Taylor, 6 Robin Uthappa, 7 Virat Kohli, 8 Mark Boucher (wk) 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 R Vinay Kumar, 11 Anil Kumble (capt).

Cape Cobras: 1 Andrew Puttick (capt) 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Henry Davids, 4 JP Duminy, 5 Justin Ontong, 6 Ryan Canning (wk), 7 Vernon Philander, 8 Rory Kleinveldt, 9 Claude Henderson, 10 Monde Zondeki, 11 Charl Langeveldt.