It rained sixes and fours at Chinnaswamy Stadium on a day when Bangaloreans can be forgiven for believing that Diwali came to town early.

By Dominic Franks

Every time the white ball disappeared over the boundary ropes the skies were lit up by an array of multi-coloured scintillas from the fire-crackers being set off from the roof of the stadium.

In the first match of the day, the Calypso Kings enthralled the sparse afternoon crowd with their cavalier hitting. Trinidad & Tobago hadn't played a game yet in the tournament, and when they did step onto the field they entertained beyond belief. Openers Lendl Simmons and William Perkins batted like men possessed, and their strokes ranged from the crisp to the cumbersome.

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In a frenetic opening stand, Simmons and Perkins lived dangerously with expansive flourishes of their bats. When Simmons was out Darren Bravo, the younger brother of Dwayne, walked in. The tall left-hander didn't have a thought about getting his eye in. He spanked the ball straight over the bowler for a massive six over the bowler's head. What a way to start your Champions League Twenty20 tournament. By the time the first match was over the team from the Caribbean had won the neutral crowd over and went off the half-filled stadium to generous round of applause.

Outside the stadium the queues were lengthening as quickly as the evening shadows. Fake RCB flags and headbands were being sold by the dozen. Incidentally the colours of the RCB flag (red and gold) are nearly the same colours as the unofficial Karnataka flag (red and yellow). By the time the post-match press conference was done, the stadium had been transformed into a sea of red and gold. Fluttering flags and innumerable camera flashes greeted the Royal Challengers as they walked onto the field. The stadium wasn't packed to the rafters as it had been on the day of the opening ceremony but the decibel levels were just the same.

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And that's when the party began. While Robin Uthappa, Jacques Kallis and Virat Kohli all had worthy innings, it was the introduction of Ross Taylor in the last five overs that sent the crowd into a tizzy. Even before he walked on, and Virat Kohli walked off, the 35,000 strong crowd were chanting his name. Each time he came on strike, the spectators screamed his name expectantly. Just when it looked like time was running out for ‘Rossi' - the Man (as one banner succinctly put it) the Samoan from New Zealand sizzled and scorched to shock his compatriots from the Otago Volts.

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Kallis took a single of the first ball of the last over. At that time, Taylor was 8 of 6 balls. By the time the innings was finished, his scorecard read 33 of 11. In five balls, Taylor had bludgeoned 3 sixes and a four in the cavernous arc from deep backward square leg to long-off. He walked off to rapturous applause with shouts of "Taylor, Taylor" reverberating around the nearly packed stadium. It looks like a club culture has already taken roots.