Kolkata Knight Riders breezed into the final of the Indian Premier League after scoring a thumping 18-run win over Delhi Daredevils in the first Qualifier on Tuesday.

It was an interesting clash between the two IPL heavyweights but Kolkata emerged winner as they bowled with more discipline with each and every bowler taking at least one wicket.

Kolkata Knight Riders recovered from regular blows to post a fighting 162 for four after electing to bat and then stopped Delhi to 144 for eight at Subrata Roy Sahara stadium.

It is for the first time that KKR have made it to the summit clash in five editions of the league so far.

Yusuf Pathan, who was going through a lean patch so far, struck form just at the right time for Kolkata as his uneaten 40 and a crucial 56-run stand with Laxmi Shukla (24 off 11) in just four overs helped his side cross 150-run mark.

The top three KKR batsmen — Gautam Gambhir (32), Brendon McCullum (31) and Jacques Kallis (30) batted well but could not convert the starts into big knocks.

Delhi too paid the price of not having big partnerships as they lost wickets intermittently. Pressure gradually grew and the lower-order batsmen failed to soak in that.

Mahela Jayawardene top scored for them with his 40 and for Kolkata Jacques Kallis (2/24) and Sunil Narine (2/24) shared four wickets between them.

Delhi still have a chance to make the final as they will play in second Qualifier on May 25 against the winner of the Eliminator, which will be plyed between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.

For Delhi it was a forgettable start to the chase with both the openers — Virender Sehwag (7) and David Warner (10) were dismissed within 13 balls.

Warner was bamboozled by a turning ball from Shakib Al Hasan which hit his pads before landing in gloves of McCullum. However umpire Billy Doctrove held the appeal.

Sehwag was out next ball when he chased a widish Balaji delivery and just managed an edge into the gloves of McCullum.

Jayawardene (40) and Ojha (29) added 59 for the third wicket to not let Kolkata build on the momentum. The Sri Lankan hit some majectic shots and Ojha too was impressive with his shots.

Rajat Bhatia broke the partnership by having Ojha caught at point and Iqbal Abdulla had Jayawardene stumped as the match again shifted in Kolkata’s over.

Delhi surprisingly kept Ross Taylor behind in the line-up and sent Venugopal Rao ahead of him. Delhi needed 54 off the last five overs and Venugopal did not help their cause by taking 22 balls for his 13.

Taylor struck a towering six off Sunil Narine and now everything depended on him as Delhi required 33 from 12 balls.

However, the Kiwi fell while going for a big shot off Kallis. Negi and Mokel were out in the last over, in which they required 26 runs and it was all over for Delhi in this contest.

Source: Times of India

Shakib’s all-round show brings about 34-run win over Pune….

There wasn’t much to play for, but whatever was at stake turned out to be motivation enough for Kolkata Knight Riders.

Shahrukh Khan’s franchise rode on Shakib Al Hasan’s all-round show to carve out a 34-run victory over the hopeless Pune Warriors, ensuring that they would finish the league stage in the top two. KKR thus avoided playing in the ‘eliminator’ – the fixture of their unceremonious exit last season – and will face off against Delhi in the ‘Qualifier 1’.

On a sluggish pitch at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium on Saturday night, Kolkata batted first and reached 136-4, thanks to Brendon McCullum (41) and Shakib Al Hasan (42). The visiting team then arrested Pune’s chase on 102-8, as their three-pronged spin attack – primarily Shakib with 4-0-18-2 and Sunil Narine with 4-0-15-1 – came to the fore.

Pune lost Robin Uthappa early, and when Michael Clarke and Jesse Ryder exited within five runs of each other, the requirement was all uphill. Sourav Ganguly’s dismissal – plumb in front to Shakib – only steepened the incline, and once the required rate crossed ten an over, there was only one way the match was going to end. The defeat was Pune’s ninth successive in IPL-V.

Earlier, Gautam Gambhir elected to bat and KKR reached 136-4 against tight Pune bowling on a sluggish pitch where shot making wasn’t easy. The par total was reached largely due to the 67 in 7.3 overs that McCullum and Shakib added. McCullum provided the initial impetus, and then Shakib made the best of his chances to keep the board ticking.

Gambhir fell cheaply when he struck Wayne Parnell into the hands of mid-on. Jacques Kallis went after Michael Clarke, and was bowled as the newly married Aussie let slip a flat one. McCullum and Shakib got together, taking their side to 50 in the 12th over, before Bangladesh’s sweetheart changed gears. He watched as McCullum took successive boundaries off Ashish Nehra, and capitalized on heaps of good fortune to open the sluice gates.

In the 13th over of the innings, Uthappa fluffed a stumping when Shakib had scored five, as the ball hurried down to the fence for byes. Shakib added insult to injury by heaving a six over mid-wicket on the next ball. A delivery later, Parnell dropped the Bangladeshi at deep square leg and that was followed by another maximum, taking the tally from Clarke’s unfortunate over to 20.

At 101 for two in 15, the visiting side looked set to post a competitive total. But McCullum and Shakib departed in successive overs – the former caught at extra cover, the latter bowled by a Bhuvneshwar Kumar yorker.

What the duo didn’t know then was that they’d done enough to fulfill Kolkata’s agenda of gaining full points from the fixture and have two shots at making the final.

Source: Yahoo Cricket

It had all built up to that one moment. Gautam Gambhir, playing three spinners against the home side’s decision to stick to three fast bowlers at the Wankhede Stadium, had hoped at the toss that the pitch would turn later. Kolkata Knight Riders had just about recovered from a horror start to post a decent 140. Mumbai Indians had found run-scoring as difficult as Knight Riders had, but had lost only two wickets at the halfway stage.

The last ball of the 11th over, Sunil Narine bowled a good length delivery to Sachin Tendulkar, who went for the cut. The ball spun in a mile and cannoned into off stump off bat and pad. Had both not come in the way, it would have taken out leg stump. With one of the game’s greats not being able to pick Narine, the rest of the Mumbai Indians line-up had little chance. He finished with 4 for 15; had Lasith Malinga not got six off a dropped catch on the straight boundary, Narine could have had 5 for 9.

The 32-run margin was substantial in the end, and it was down to how swiftly Knight Riders barged in to the opening created by Tendulkar’s dismissal. The pressure was already on Mumbai Indians after Herschelle Gibbs had crawled to 13 off 24 deliveries, four of those runs being overthrows. When Tendulkar fell, the asking-rate had touched nine. Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard had hunted down a much stiffer target against Royal Challengers Bangalore a couple of day ago. It wasn’t to be today. Not on this pitch.

The Wankhede crowd waited for their all-star line-up to fire. They waited for the big hits to come. In vain. With 58 needed off 28, Shakib Al Hasan lured Rayudu out with a wider one to give Brendon McCullum an easy stumping. Jacques Kallis, who had got a ripper from RP Singh first ball, had Pollard edging a slow bouncer to McCullum. Next ball, he trapped Dwayne Smith in front with a skiddy delivery which nipped in. Rohit Sharma was Mumbai Indians’ only hope now; Narine had him caught by a diving McCullum off a leading edge. The rest caved in.

Smith’s fall had made it 96 for 6, exactly the same perilous position Knight Riders had found themselves in after being stunned early by an atrocious umpiring decision and a terrific ball from RP Singh. Their lower order and Yusuf Pathan rode on some fortune, though, to take 44 off the final 26 balls.

Stroke-making was hard as the usual Wankhede bounce combined with the ball not coming on. The pitch did not have any role to play in the first dismissal, though; umpire Subroto Das had. He adjudged McCullum lbw though the batsman was at least two metres out of his crease to a ball that pitched outside leg and would have missed off. Knight Riders were to get another rough one later, when Tendulkar was caught plumb in front first ball by Shakib, only to be denied by umpire Billy Doctrove.

RP Singh followed up the McCullum wicket by uprooting Kallis’ off stump with a ripper, getting a short of a length ball to swing in and zip through the gate. A stunned Knight Riders tamely allowed the home bowlers to build up the pressure.

Even Gautam Gambhir, who has had a golden run this season, found it difficult to score, and could not capitalise on two let-offs. He was dropped by the wicketkeeper and by Tendulkar at third man, but was bowled on 27 as he missed a Pollard cutter.

Knight Riders continued to struggle to time their shots, with Tiwary pottering to 17 off 27 deliveries at one stage. An inside edge off Pollard brought him four, and he hammered the next ball past mid-off for another. Harbhajan Singh and Malinga were hit down the ground for sixes.

From 6 for 2 to 89 for 3 seemed a creditable recovery, given the pitch, but three wickets for seven runs nearly undid Tiwary’s efforts. Yusuf, caught off a RP Singh no-ball, could not do much to break his poor run, but along with the lower order, managed to get Knight Riders to 140.

It hadn’t looked to be a challenging total at the break, it turned out to be a match-winning one, and all but took Knight Riders to the playoffs.

Abhishek Purohit is an editorial assistant at ESPNcricinfo

With Chennai Super Kings needing five runs to win off the final delivery, Rajat Bhatia, who had bowled MS Dhoni and conceded only four from the previous five balls, bowled a full toss. Dwayne Bravo, who had missed a heave off the fifth ball, heaved again, and this time he hit the ball high into the night sky. Kolkata Knight Riders’ captain Gautam Gambhir, fielding in the circle, kept his eyes fixed on the ball as it began its descent, and grimaced as he watched it fall agonisingly out of reach of his fielder at long-on, and just over the boundary. The Super Kings were out of the dug out, craning their necks to see where the ball landed, and once they saw it was a match-winning six, there were several streaks of yellow speeding to embrace Bravo, who stood with arms aloft having kept his team alive in the IPL.

Had the match been tied, it would have been less of a surprise, for Super Kings’ chase had followed a pattern eerily similar to Knight Riders’ first innings.

In pursuit of 159, Michael Hussey and M Vijay added 97 runs in 10.1 overs before Sunil Narine, who continued to confound batsmen with his variations during his spell of 4-0-14-2, dismissed both of them in the space of three balls. Hussey had demonstrated impeccable timing on a pitch that demanded application, hitting four sixes in a half-century that threatened to make short work of the chase, before he top-edged a sweep. Vijay was bowled trying to cut a straight one.

When Knight Riders had been sent in after losing the toss, Gambhir and Brendon McCullum had set off at breakneck speed, adding 99 in 11.2 overs before they were dismissed in the space of five deliveries. Gambhir had continued his prolific scoring streak, taking charge of accelerating his team’s innings while McCullum played second fiddle, relatively speaking. They were setting Knight Riders for a formidable total when McCullum was run-out and Gambhir was bowled after the ball came off his inside edge and pad, gone for 62 off 43 balls.

With the Knight Riders openers gone and two new batsmen at the crease, Super Kings began to drag the run-rate back, by striking regularly. The hosts slipped from 99 for 0 to 128 for 5. Jacques Kallis was unlucky to be given caught behind while sweeping, because the ball came off the arm, and Yusuf Pathan hit his customary solitary six before holing out to Bravo on the long-on boundary. Bravo caught Manoj Tiwary there soon after and Knight Riders were eventually kept to 158.

Super Kings went down the same path. After the Hussey-Vijay stand, they were slowed down and then lost Suresh Raina to a run out in the 14th over. MS Dhoni played out four consecutive dot balls against L Balaji as the gap between runs required and balls remaining began to grow. Balaji conceded two runs off the 14th over, and Bhatia five in the next. Super Kings now needed 44 off 30 balls.

After the 17th over of the first innings, Knight Riders had been 127 for 4. After the 17th over of the chase, Super Kings were 127 for 3. They lost Faf du Plessis to the first ball of the 18th. With 27 needed off the last two overs, Dhoni changed the course of the chase. He nearly beheaded Marchant de Lange, such was the ferocity with which he clubbed the first ball to the straight boundary. The next was a full toss that disappeared through deep midwicket and the third was a towering six over long-on.

Super Kings were favourites, needing only nine to get off the final over, but Dhoni was bowled off its second ball, missing Bhatia’s slower ball. Bhatia went on to bowl three more exceptional deliveries, but his last was the full toss that allowed Super Kings to move to No. 4 in the league.

George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo

Rohit Sharma and Herschelle Gibbs, playing his first game this season, set up Mumbai Indians with a 167-run stand that helped end Kolkata Knight Riders’ unbeaten run of seven games. Rohit, who made his maiden IPL ton, was in complete command and Gibbs settled in quickly despite having watched the bulk of the season from the dug out; the pair justified their captain’s decision to bat, piled on a formidable total that proved beyond the hosts’ reach and preserved Mumbai Indians’ place in the top four.

For a team that had been among the most consistent in this IPL, Knight Riders’ bowling line-up slipped up considerably. Batsmen were given a generous dose of short-pitched deliveries together with width that gave them several opportunities to open up. Both Rohit and Gibbs displayed a ruthlessness that ensured Knight Riders were made to pay. The only highlight for the hosts was the early fall of Sachin Tendulkar; from there on, it was one-way traffic.

Rohit relished the short ball and seemed to have the time to rock back and dispatch it with ease. He pulled Brett Lee for a six over square leg before slashing Shakib Al Hasan twice through point, even as the left-arm spinner pushed one through quicker the second time round. Sunil Narine, difficult to pick, beat the bat on occasion but there was plenty of release available at the other end to deal with him cautiously. Rohit slog-swept Shakib for six and then targeted Jacques Kallis.

Kallis was taken for 18 in the 11th over, Rohit sending him over deep square leg and bringing up his half-century with a flick past short fine leg. Rajat Bhatia’s dibbly-dobblies weren’t spared either, Rohit even sweeping him for four in an over that fetched 19. Returning for a new spell, Lee struggled for the right length – Rohit launched him over long-on, cracked him through point, clipped him over midwicket and brought up his century – the eighth Indian to score a ton in the IPL – in the same over.

Gibbs was comfortable playing second-fiddle but, even then, showed how destructive he could be in his own right. He nonchalantly charged out to Lee to hammer him over extra cover three times in one over, stepped out to Bhatia and Narine to collect more boundaries and marched along to a half-century, giving Mumbai Indians an opening combination they could stick to for the remainder of their campaign.

Knight Riders were dealt a severe blow when they lost their captain Gautam Gambhir – who scored five fifties in his previous nine games – in the first over, bowled while trying to cut. His opening partner Manvinder Bisla top-edged a catch next over, and despite an attempted revival from Kallis, Knight Riders couldn’t get far enough.

On a slowish track, the Mumbai Indians bowlers varied their pace and didn’t dole out too many freebies. Even though Knight Riders bat deep and had Kallis and Yusuf Pathan together for almost half the innings, they struggled to keep up with the required-rate. Kallis, though, managed to reach his first half-century this season and Yusuf, who’d had a forgettable season with the bat before this, found some form during his unbeaten 40. The defeat was a blip Knight Riders could afford, given their place at No.2, but they have stiff competition.

Siddhartha Talya is a sub editor at ESPNcricinfo

Delhi bowlers threw no challenge as Kolkata Knight Riders chased down 154-run target with 8 balls to spare to secure a comfortable 6-wicket victory at Ferozeshah Kotla and reach top of the table on Monday.

After restricting hosts to a modest 153/9, Kolkata Knight Riders got off to a solid start with openers Gautam Gambhir and Brendon McCullum posting 68-run stand for the first wicket.

Pacer Varun Aaron gave Delhi first breakthrough by dismissing Gautam Gambhir (36).

However, Kolkata appeared unperturbed by the wicket of Gambhir as McCullum steered the score along with Jacques Kallis.

The duo put Kolkata in a solid position before pacer Umesh Yadav struck in the 16 th over to dismiss Jacques Kallis and Brendon McCullum in consecutive deliveries.

McCullum made a swashbuckling 56 and shared 60-run stand with Jacques Kallis (30).

However, the double strike came too late and visitors surged towards an easy victory.

Delhi Daredevils didn’t fire as a batting unit as Kolkata Knight Riders restricted them to a manageable 153 for nine in the clash of table-toppers.

Opting to bat first, Daredevils started off well with skipper Virender Sehwag blasting 23 off only nine deliveries but failed to convert his good start.

The likes of David Warner (21), Mahela Jayawardene (30) got out just when they looked set, while Ross Taylor (16)’s woeful run with the willow affected Daredevils’ chance of putting up a good score.

With Sehwag and Kevin Pietersen doing the bulk of the scoring in the earlier matches, the Daredevils middle-order were put to test for the first time and they failed miserably.

It was only due to Irfan Pathan’s (36, 22 balls, 4×4, 1×6) lusty blows that the table-toppers crossed the 150-mark.

As many four batsmen were out in the final over of the innings bowled by ‘mystery spinner’ Sunil Narine who again had enviable figures of two for 23, while Jacques Kallis (2/20) made telling impact removing both Sehwag and Warner.

Sehwag was again off the blocks in a flash as he hit a couple of boundaries and a huge six over mid-wicket off left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan in the second over of the innings.

Warner, who looked scratchy during the first few deliveries, then got his act together as he hit Brett Lee for a straight six and followed it up with a cover drive.

In only 3.2 overs, Sehwag-Warner duo added 40 runs and it looked like KKR bowlers were in for a ‘Knightmare’ when Kallis provided twin-breakthrough.

First he had Sehwag adjudged leg before when he was trying to work the ball on the leg-side. So confident was Kallis that he didn’t even bother to appeal at the first go. Sehwag had hit three boundaries and a six in his 23.

Source: Times of India

Gambhir’s 36-ball 56 laid the foundation for Knight Riders’ score of 150 for 5 and this proved to be seven runs too many for Pune Warriors India.

The Gautam Gambhir-led Kolkata Knight Riders continued on their winning ways as they notched up their fifth consecutive win in IPL-5 today evening at the Eden Gardens as they defeated Sourav Ganguly’s Pune Warriors India by seven runs in a topsy-turvy match. Gambhir led from the front with both ball and in the field in the most anticipated match of IPL-5 even as the Kolkata crowd cheered for Ganguly, but most of them were rooting for the home team.

Ganguly was the icon player of Knight Riders for the first three seasons, but had a turbulent time with the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise; and those problems have been well-documented. In a decision then that didn’t go down well with Kolkatans at all, the Knight Riders team management decided against buying Ganguly at the 2011 auction; for that matter neither did any of the either IPL franchises. Ganguly got his IPL lifeline when he was signed up by Pune Warriors in May 2011 as a replacement for the injured Ashish Nehra for the fourth edition of the league. It’s for those reasons that today evening’s clash was touted as a grudge match for Ganguly and his fans; and the weather gods sensing the importance of the occasion decided to co-operate as the expected spells of rain stayed away from Kolkata.

Ganguly and his Knight Riders’ counterpart Gautam Gambhir, however, both downplayed the hype on the eve of the match. While Gambhir stated the Knight Riders belong to Kolkata; Ganguly also took the safe line saying “I’ll just say that it’s always great to play at the Eden, which is my ground…”. It is his ground, but that didn’t keep Ganguly from feeling the nerves when he walked out for the toss, and the former India captain admitted as such.

Gambhir’s 36-ball 56 laid the foundation for Knight Riders’ score of 150 for 5, which at one stage looked to exceed the 180-run mark; but a good bowling effort led by Man of the Match Sunil Narine (4-1-13-1) and Marchant de Lange ensured the hosts would get over the line in a match that tested the loyalty of the Eden Gardens crowd to the hilt.

Pune Warriors had a horrendous start to the run chase as they were reduced to 55 for 5 in the ninth over; but in a surprising decision, Ganguly pushed himself down to No. 7 in the order as he kept the crowd waiting for him to stride out on his home ground. The early collapse put paid to an impressive fightback by the Warriors in the second half of Knight Riders’ innings.

De Lange (3-34), playing only his second match of IPL-5, got one through Michael Clarke’s defence with a beauty, and then had Robin Uthappa (17) caught by Laxmi Ratan Shukla at covers as Warriors were 28 for 2. Iqbal Abdulla (1-26) bowled his four overs on the trot and accounted for the talented Manish Pandey before Jacques Kallis got rid of Mithun Manhas and Narine trapped Steven Smith LBW in his first over, though the batsman was unlucky as he had got an inside edge to it.

Smith’s dismissal, however, was the cue for the moment the 67,000-odd people at Eden Gardens were waiting for – Ganguly coming out to bat. And, the ‘Prince of Kolkata’ didn’t let his fans down as he played some vintage shots in his 35-ball 36, but even he couldn’t read Narine’s off-spinners. Ganguly added 73 runs for the sixth wicket with Angelo Mathews (35 from 27 balls), and looked to have given his team an outside chance of victory, but Rajat Bhatia ensured there wouldn’t be any last-minute heroics from the Warriors’ captain when he had him caught by Abdulla at mid-wicket.

Mathews, who was out in the last over, gave the Knight Riders team some flutters when he hit three consecutive sixes in the 15th over bowled by Yusuf Pathan to keep the Warriors in touch with the required rate. But, this was only proved to be a false dawn for the Warriors, as the impressive Knight Riders’ bowling attack combined yet again to get their team over the line.

Earlier, Gambhir was the more aggressive of the Knight Riders’ opening pair from the outset and had already hit three boundaries and two sixes as he scored 35 off 18 balls with Knight Riders scoring 68 in their Powerplay overs. Brendon McCullum was happy to play the supporting role, but the Knight Riders’ opening batsmen were helped by some poor bowling by the Pune Warriors, especially from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Wayne Parnell and Ashok Dinda; the last of who was taken to the cleaners by Gambhir and McCullum in the sixth over of the match in which he conceded 19 runs. Knight Riders were also aided and abetted by some sloppy fielding from the Warriors as well as a couple of dropped catches; none more easier than the sitter Dinda dropped off MClarke’s bowling to give McCullum a life when the New Zealand wicket keeper-batsman was on 28. McCullum got on with his job after Dinda’s howler as he and Gambhir, who brought up his half-century from 30 balls, kept the scoreboard ticking over by rotating the strike and hitting the boundaries, as Knight Riders scored 98 in the first 10 overs and looked on course to set Warriors a target in excess of 180.

The Warriors’ bowlers came back exceedingly well in the second half of the KKR innings as they conceded only 52 runs and took five wickets in the last 10 overs; and such was the accuracy of the bowling that only one four and one six were hit in this period. The fightback started when Murali Kartik had Gambhir (56 from 36 balls) caught by Mithun Manhas at long-off to end the 113-run stand; which incidentally is the highest opening partnership for Knight Riders in IPL history. Mathews then trapped McCullum (42 from 43 balls) LBW, though he wasn’t happy with the decision as the opener felt he had got an inside edge.

The moment of IPL-5 though came in the fourth ball of the 15th over by Kartik when Steven Smith, who sprinted to his right from long-on dived full length on the boundary rope, and in fact caught the ball in mid air, but as he was aware the momentum would carry him over the ropes, he flung the ball back into play and save four runs for his team in a Superman effort; with Pathan being the batsman who was denied those runs. “I was lucky enough to pull it back on the first occasion. I practice that stuff all the time and I was pretty disappointed when I dropped it. I have set some high standards for myself on the field,” Smith said during the innings break.

Mathews then took his second wicket when he deceived Jacques Kallis with a slower ball and clean bowled him before Kumar struck twice in the 19th over. He first ended Yusuf Pathan’s struggle in the middle when he had him well caught by Smith at long-on, and then had Shukla caught by Ganguly at mid-off, and as soon as he took the cath, the Eden crowd rose up as one. Mathews (2-17), Kumar (2-26) and Murali Kartik (1-22) were the pick of the Warriors’ bowlers; but their efforts proved to be in vain in the final outcome.

Source: Yahoo Cricket

Gautam Gambhir slammed fine fifty to guide Kolkata Knight Riders to a comfortable five-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 5 match at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Monday.

Gambhir’s dream run in the ongoing Indian Premium League continued as he slammed a quickfire 43-ball fifty with the help of four boundaries and a six. Gambhir’s fine innings came to an end in the 18th over when he was dismissed by Chennai’s Dwayne Bravo.

CSK’s Dwayne Bravo broke the 70-run second wicket stand between Jacques Kallis and Gautam Gambhir. Bravo removed Kallis to give Chennai much-needed breakthrough when the batsman was caught behind the wickets by skipper MS Dhoni.

Gambhir and Kallis take Kolkata Knight Riders past 50 runs after losing Brendon McCullum early against Chennai. The duo also reached to their 50 runs stand in 38 balls to steady Knight Riders’ chase.

Chennai’s Ravichandran Ashwin struck to dismiss Brendon McCullum and give Kolkata Knight Riders early blow in chase of 140.

Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders produced a superb bowling display to restrict Chennai Super Kings to 139/5.

Skipper Dhoni 34 off 30 balls and Albie Morkel 13 off 8 balls remained unbeaten at the crease. The duo added 21 runs in 2 overs to take Chennai to a modest total.

Jacques Kallis claimed two wickets while Brett Lee and Sunil Narine took wicket apiece to stutter Chennai.

Jacques Kallis dismissed Dwayne Bravo and Suresh Raina in quick succession to leave Chennai Super Kings tottering at 88/4 in 13 overs.

Raina was in good touch, making 44 off 34 balls with the help of four fours and a six. Chennai Super Kings stuttered in the innings as they lost wickets at regular intervals.

Dwayne Bravo was the third man to go when Iqbal Abdulla took the simple catch at long-on off Jacques Kallis.

Bravo and Suresh Raina added 42-run stand for the third wicket to steady Chennai innings after suffering the dismissals of the openers.

Chennai lost their second wicket in the form of David Hussey when he got run out in a mix up with Suresh Raina. Brett Lee struck in his first over to remove Faf du Plessis cheaply.

Du Plessis failed to continue his good run as he scored three runs before going back to the pavilion.

Earlier, Chennai skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat against Kolkata in the 41st of the tournament.

Chennai got the big boost as Michael Hussey is back into the team, replacing Wriddhiman Saha. Yo Mahesh also included in place Nuwan Kulasekara.

Kolkata decided to retain the same playing eleven that thrashed Royal Challengers Bangalore by 47 runs.

Teams:

Chennai Super Kings: Faf du Plessis, Subramaniam Badrinath, Michael Hussey, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Dwayne Bravo, Albie Morkel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shadab Jakati, Yo Mahesh

Kolkata Knight Riders: Brendon McCullum, Gautam Gambhir, Jacques Kallis, Yusuf Pathan, Manoj Tiwary, Debabrata Das, Laxmi Shukla, Brett Lee, Rajat Bhatia, Sunil Narine, Iqbal Abdulla

Source: Times of India

Late charge by Chris Gayle (86 off 58 balls) went in vain as Kolkata Knight Riders thrashed Royal Challengers Bangalore by 47 runs in their return leg Indian Premier League fixture at Eden Gardens on Saturday.

Chasing 191-run target, Bangalore lost Saurabh Tiwary (19) after he tried to revive the run chase with Gayle.

Rajat Bhatia struck in the 13th over to reduce Bangalore to 77/4 in 12.5 overs. Tiwary put on 43 runs for the fourth wicket with Gayle and hit a six and a four in his 22-ball innings before the left-hander mistime Bhatia’s delivery.

Bangalore chase started on the wrong foot as they lost three top-order batsmen inside six overs.

Jacque Kallis struck twice in consecutive deliveries to dismiss in-form AB de Villiers (0) and Virat Kohli (18) in the sixth over as Bangalore struggled in their run chase.

Kohli hit three boundaries in his sedate 19-ball innings.

Spinner Yusuf Pathan gave Kolkata an early breakthrough when he dismissed Tillakaratne Dilshan (2) in the very first over to reduce Bangalore to 2/1 in 0.6 overs.

Electing to bat, skipper Gautam Gambhir smashed 93 off 51 balls to help Knight Riders post massive 191-run target for Royal Challengers.

Gambhir hit five huge sixes and nine boundaries in his whirlwind knock to lead the hosts from the front. The skipper added impressive 95 runs with Brendon McCullum (43) – their highest opening stand for the season – to set a brilliant platform for the latter batsmen.

McCullum played a perfect foil for Gambhir as he smashed eight boundaries in his 37-ball knock.

Veteran Jacques Kallis too came to party in the end as the South African batsman smacked three massive sixes and a four in his quick-fire 27-ball 41 innings.

For Bangalore, pacer Vinay Kumar (2-31) took two Kolkata wickets whereas skipper Daniel Vettori (1-29) and Zaheer Khan (1-48) claim a wicket each.

Kolkata skipper completed his fifty off 28 balls soon after McCullum’s wicket. The left-hander hit a six and eight boundaries in his quick-fire knock.

Riding on Gambhir’s exploits Knight Riders raced to hundred in just 11.3 overs.

Bangalore captain Daniel Vettori clean bowled compatriot McCullum in the 11th over to provide his team a crucial breakthrough. McCullum hit two consecutive fours off Vettori before the latter got better of him.

Gambhir and McCullum started the Kolkata innings aggressively. The openers added 46 runs in the first powerplay overs as Kolkata raced to fifty in 6.2 overs.

Earlier, Knight Riders skipper Gambhir won the toss and decided to bat against Royal Challengers.

Kolkata bring in Iqbal Abdulla in place of half-fit Laxmipathy Balaji in the playing XI.

Daniel Vettori is back to lead the Bangalore side, after his injury concerns in the previous game, as he replaces Andrew McDonald in the squad.

Squad:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (Capt), Brendon McCullum, Manvinder Bisla (wk), Jacques Kallis, Yusuf Pathan, Manoj Tiwary, Debabrata Das, Rajat Bhatia, Sunil Narine, Brett Lee, Iqbal Abdulla.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Daniel Vettori (Capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers (wk), Saurabh Tiwary, R Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Harshal Patel, KP Apanna.

Source: Times of India

There was heavy rain accompanied wind, and lightening in Kolkata has delayed the match between KKR, and DC. This was the initial decision, but as the rain was not stopping, match was called off. This was an huge disappointment for the viewers at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Points will shared equally between the two teams, i.e. Kolkata Knight Riders and Deccan Chargers.

DC were thought of taking over KKR and gain their first point. However, they got first points, but had to share with KKR. On the other hand, KKR was very confident of winning the match from their easy win over DC in their previous match.