DURBAN, April 24: England all-rounder Ravi Bopara steered bottom-of the table Kings XI Punjab past Bangalore Royal Challengers to their opening win in the Indian Premier League 2009 at the Kingsmead on Friday night. Kings XI eventually cantered home by seven wickets, chasing down BRC' 168/9 with their 173/3 in 19 overs.

Opening the batting as Kings XI set off in chase of 169 for a desperately-needed victory, Bopara played sensible cricket initially before opening his shoulders in company of skipper Yuvraj Singh to see the Chandigarh side home in a match that lacked much of the drama of the night before when defending champions Rajasthan Royals pipped Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL's first-ever 'super over' bowlout.

Bangalore built their total around a 46-ball 62 from Jacques Kallis and a late 22-ball 35 from Kiwi batsman Ross Taylor. Fellow New Zealander Jesse Ryder overcame a lean trot at this event with a blistering 31 at the top of the order but the Royal Challengers were undone by the regular loss of wickets.

Kings XI Punjab started sedately with Bopara and Karan Goel putting on 52 in just under seven overs and Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara did his bit with an 18-ball 26 as the Chandigarh side pushed towards putting their first points on the leaderboard.

It was however, the late charge launched by man of the match Bopara and Yuvraj that finally tilted the scales. Between the 15th and 18th overs, the two put on 49 runs to light the fire under their charge.

Bopara finally perished to a change of pace from Kallis but by them he had all but put the issue beyond doubt with a 58-ball 85 that included four boundaries and five sweetly-timed sixes.

Yuvraj (30, 17b, 3x4, 1x6) finished the run chase off the last ball of the 19th over with a powerful six off the wasteful Kallis (1/51).

With team owner Priety Zinta cheering from the sidelines, Yuvraj's men finally looked to have turned the corner. The worst hit of the eight squads in action here in South Africa in terms of players missing - Brett Lee and Shaun Marsh the two big contributors to their efforts last year - Kings XI had looked badly off-colour in their first two games, but put those memories behind with this well merited win.

For Bangalore, it was a third straight loss after their opening win over the Rajasthan Royals.

Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 168/9 in 20 overs (J. Kallis 62, R. Taylor 35; Y. Abdullah 4/31, I. Pathan 3/35) lost to Kings XI Punjab 173/3 in 19 overs (R. Bopara 85, K. Sangakkara 26, Yuvraj Singh 30 n.o.; J. Kallis 1/51. A. Kumble 1/19)