The Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Anil Kumble praised the influence of Jacques Kallis as his side secured victory over the Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League on Tuesday (NZT).
South African all-rounder Kallis hit a superbly-paced 89 and Robin Uthappa smashed 51 as the Royal Challengers overhauled Kings XI's formidable score of 203 for three with seven deliveries to spare, securing an eight-wicket victory in their first match at home.
"We haven't scored 200 runs in a 20-over game, so it was great to chase down that target," Kumble said.
"It's never easy trying to keep up with an asking rate of 10 an over from the start, but Kallis was brilliant, Manish gave us the start and Robin helped finish off.
"We told ourselves we ought to overhaul the target in 19 overs and we did it.
"It was just a matter of getting those boundaries in at the right time, and Kallis hit those sixes at the right time."
The Royal Challengers managed only one victory in seven home matches in the first edition of the tournament in 2008, but Kumble believed victory was always possible.
"I don't think there was a jinx as such because we won a couple matches in the Champions League here," he said.
"Winning our first game at home is a great start, but I think we gave away 20-25 runs too many.
"At the toss I felt there was a bit of moisture in the wicket and with the early start a target of 175-180 would have been a par score.
"I think we were a bit unlucky in the first six overs and a few edges went over the fielders, but we need to tighten our bowling and that's something we need to work on."
Man of the match Kallis was pleased with his performance.
"We knew we had to maintain the run rate, but the key was wickets in hand," he said.
"We needed one guy to bat through the innings and at times I had to hold myself back, but 15 years of playing this game has hopefully given me a lot of experience.
"Obviously you have to do what's good for the team at that moment in time and I thought it was my job to bat through the innings.
"The rest of guys came in and played beautifully especially Robin.
"His innings took the pressure off me, he was very tidy and struck the ball superbly."
Kings XI skipper Kumar Sangakkara demanded his team improve quickly.
"I thought both sides batted outstandingly, but there is a lot of things we could have done better as a bowling unit," he said.
"The other side had the possibility of chasing down 200, but our job was to do the basics well, bowl in the block-hole when needed, target good areas and swing the ball if swing is on offer. Unfortunately it was not to be.
"Our batting was good in this match, our bowling was excellent in the previous game, so we need to be more consistent."