Kolkata Knight Riders beat the Warriors by 22 runs through D/L method in their Champions League Twenty20 clash at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Saturday.

Kolkata came into the game knowing exactly what needed to be done and they did it in some style. They have finished their league engagements with 4 points and will now wait for the other results from this group. Kallis and Gambhir looked in majestic touch and made light work of the chase.

Warriors did not help themselves one bit by dropping both players. Warriors would like to forget this one and prepare themselves for what will be a must win encounter against Somerset on the 5th of October.

Kolkata Knight Riders were 83/1 in 9 overs in pursuit of 156 rain stopped the play.

Jacques Kallis (31) and captain Gautam Gambhir (33) were at the crease for Kolkata and according to the Duckworth/Lewis system, the par score is 61.

Manvinder Bisla put up a 35-run opening stand with Kallis before falling to Wayne Parnell in the fourth over.

Bisla hit a six and 2 fours in his 12-ball 19 before edging a Parnell delivery for wicket-keeper Mark Boucher to take the catch.

Earlier, Colin Ingram’s 47-ball 61, JJ Smuts’ 46 and Mark Boucher’s unbeaten 38 took Warriors to 155/4 against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Boucher hit 5 fours in his 27-ball 38.

Ingram hit 3 sixes and 3 fours in his knock and fell to Brett Lee who had him caught by Iqbal Abdulla at wide long-on.

Ingram reached his fifth fifty in T20 cricket off 33 balls.

Warriors lost their second wicket when Balaji had Smuts caught by Iqbal Abdulla at mid-off.

Smuts hit 6 fours in his 43-ball 46.

Ashwell Prince edged a Jacques Kallis delivery onto his stumps as Warriors lost their first wicket in the second over.

The breakthrough came after Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir won the toss and chose to bowl.

The toss for the match was delayed by about 45 minutes due to wet outfield.

Kolkata have replaced Brad Haddin, Jaidev Unadkat and Shami Ahmed by Shakib Al Hasan, Manvinder Bisla and Balaji.

Warriors are playing an unchanged XI.

Teams:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (Capt.), Jacques Kallis, Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Ryan ten Doeschate, Manvinder Bisla, Rajat Bhatia, Brett Lee, Iqbal Abdulla, Shakib Al Hasan, Lakshmipathy Balaji.

Warriors: Johan Botha (Capt.), JJ Smuts, Ashwell Prince, Colin Ingram, Mark Boucher, Kelly Smuts, Craig Thyssen, Nicky Boje, Wayne Parnell, Rusty Theron, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Source: Times of India

Jacques Kallis and Gautam Gambhir’s unbeaten 109-run partnership for the second wicket not only helped Kolkata Knight Riders thrash Royal Challengers Bangalore by nine wickets as they easily chased down the target of 170 with 15 balls to spare in the Champions League Twenty20 at Bangalore on Thursday night. This was not only KKR’s first-ever win in the Champions League Twenty20, but has also kept alive their slim hopes of adavncing to the knock-out stages.

Brad Haddin and Kallis got KKR’s run chase off to a fantastic start as they added 62 runs in only 7.2 overs with the former being the more aggressive of the pair. Haddin hit five boundaries and two sixes in his 27-ball 42 before he was caught by Virat Kohli at cover off RCB captain Daniel Vettori’s bowling shortky after part-time wicket-keeper Tillakaratne Dilshan had fluffed an easy stumping chance. This though was the only joy RCB would have for the rest of the match as Kallis and Gambhir tore apart the insipid attack, with the exception of Vettori and to an extent J Syed Mohammad.

Dirk Nannes was impressive in his first over but leaked runs when he came back for his second spell. Matters were compounded for RCB when Nannes’ new ball partner S Aravind, who earlier in the day was selected in India’s squad for the first two ODIs against England, was taken apart by Haddin early in KKR’s innings.

After this blistering start, Kallis and Gambhir batted sensibly and kept the scoreboard moving over while hardly taking any risks. Kallis, who hit the winning shot and was named Man of the Match, was unbeaten on 64 off 47 balls (4 boundaries and a six); while Gambhir shrugged off his last two failures and batted with confidence as he hit three boundaries and four huge sixes in his 31-ball 55*.

Earlier, Vettori played a captain’s innings to steer RCB out of a hole and lead them to a competitive 169 for 9; but on a good batting track like the one at the Chinnaswamy Stadium the home team fell about 15-20 runs short. Vettori, who came into bat at the fall of the fifth wicket in as early as the 12th over, hit five boundaries and two sixes in his 23-ball 44; and also added 61 runs in only 32 deliveries for the seventh wicket with Raju Bhatkal. This partnership also helped RCB claw their way back in the match and score 67 runs for the loss of three wickets in the last five overs of their innings.

It could however had been an altogether different story had Vettori being given out LBW to Kallis when the RCB captain had only scored seven runs. A length ball caught Vettori on the crease but the umpire adjudged the delivery pitched outside leg stump, even as replays indicated the RCB skipper’s off stump would have gone for a walk. Brett Lee ended Bhatkal’s cameo when he had him caught by Yusuf Pathan at midwicket; and the same fielder was in action soon after as he took a tumbling, low catch in the last over to dismiss J Syed Mohammad. The batsman after an enquiry with Pathan took him on his word and walked to give Jaidev Unandkat the first of his two wickets in the over; the other being that of Vettori, who was out in the last ball of the RCB innings.

Earlier, Chris Gayle got the RCB innings off to a flying start as he hit three sixes in his 16-ball 25 before a Kallis yorker knocked back his leg stump and then Lee had Virat Kohli caught by Gautam Gambhir at covers for a blob as RCB slipped to 29 for 2. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Saurabh Tiwary then consolidated the innings even as the young southpaw found Lee’s pace too hot to handle and his stay at the crease was ended by Pathan in the 10th over. Dilshan (18 in 21 balls), who replaced AB de Villiers in RCB’s playing XI, had a troubled stay in the middle as he struggled to time the ball; and when he was smartly stumped by Brad Haddin off Rajat Bhatia, RCB’s score was 71 for 4 in the 11th over. De Villiers, who is South Africa’s limited-overs captain broke his left middle finger in training on Wednesday and as a result will miss the upcoming one-day international and Twenty20 series against Australia while he undergoes surgery on the finger.

Abdulla then dismissed Mayank Agarwal and Mohammad Kaif in consecutive overs as RCB slipped to 91 for 6 in the 14th over, and it was left to Vettori and Bhatkal to rescue the home team’s innings; but their valiant rearguard effort was to be in vain.

Source: Yahoo Cricket

Callum Ferguson’s transformation, from a batsman who was struggling to find gaps in the field to a big-hitting finisher, helped South Australia earn their first points of the tournament and heal their damaged net run-rate to a certain extent. Ferguson turned the innings against Kolkata Knight Riders around in a single over and then helped ransack 94 off the last six to set up a match-winning 188 on a slow pitch.

The Knight Riders’ 19-run defeat was their second loss in as many matches and a severe blow to their chances of progressing from their five-team group. Their chase was hampered by frequent wickets at one end and the lack of strike to Jacques Kallis at the other. The game was up when Yusuf Pathan fell, with the score on 102 for 5 after 14.1 overs, and all Ryan ten Doeschate and the tail could do was narrow the margin of defeat, which looked like being much larger until 59 runs came off the last four overs.

For 15 overs South Australia batted with bluster without being too effective. They slogged, often across the line, and tried to hit everything a bit too hard to reach 94 for 3. Then Ferguson found his fluency, and the boundaries, and added 84 runs with Daniel Christian in 7.2 overs, which changed everything.

Ferguson was dropped on 18 in the 13th over, bowled by Yusuf. He had lofted towards long-on, and Kallis ran in too fast, lost sight of the ball, and nearly got hit on the head as it went past him for four. It was Ferguson’s first boundary, coming off his 22nd ball. They came quickly and in abundance after that.

In Yusuf’s next over, Ferguson lofted to the straight boundary twice, once for four, once for six. He also pulled with power and paddled delicately, finding the spaces that had eluded him earlier. South Australia scored 20 runs off that over. The acceleration had begun.

The Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Uppal is Christian’s home ground when he plays for Deccan Chargers in the IPL and he too lit it up. In the 16th over, Christian hit his first boundaries, pulling Iqbal Abdulla to midwicket and sweeping over square leg. He brought up the 50 partnership with Ferguson off 29 balls.

For an over or two Ferguson rode in Christian’s slipstream, as the allrounder dismantled the Kinght Riders attack, using force to clear the long-on boundary and deft touch when placing towards fine leg. Christian raced to 42 off 26 balls before holing out to mid-off. Ferguson then ensured a strong finish, pulling Lee into the second tier at midwicket and ending the innings with a massive blow over long-on. Ferguson ended on 70 off 40 balls.

Ferguson played the sort of innings Kallis is known for: a steady, if sedate, start followed by a compelling finish. Kallis, however, was unable to do that today. He didn’t get enough strike: at the end of the sixth over, Kallis had faced only eight balls, and only 16 balls after ten. He was caught and bowled for 20 soon after by Daniel Harris, leaving the Knight Riders on 81 for 4.

Kallis’ partners had used the majority of the strike to attempt a rash of attacking shots, and perished in the process. Manvinder Bisla struck three fours in the opening over but was bowled in the second by medium-pacer Kane Richardson, whom South Australia had drafted in for this game along with Gary Putland. Putland would finish with 3 for 31. Shakib Al Hasan and Gautam Gambhir hit sparkling boundaries but failed to get past 15.

The contest ended when Yusuf skied Putland towards third man and was caught by Aaron O’Brien, who sprinted back from the circle. It was the first ball off the 15th over, precisely when Ferguson had begun his onslaught in South Australia’s innings.

George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo

It was the day of the South Africans at the RJIC Stadium on Sunday.

After the Warriors romped to an easy win over SA Redbacks, another South African made a mockery of a stiff target as he steered Somerset to a five-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders.

Roelef van der Merwe may not be an easily recognisable name but the right-handed batsman packs too many punches. The all-rounder stole the thunder from his more illustrious countrymate Jacques Kallis, who earlier had struck a brilliant unbeaten 74 (65b; 4×4, 4×6) to salvage the Knight Riders’ innings.

Chasing 162 in their Champions League Group B match, Somerset lost Chris Jones with 15 on the board but van der Merwe stood tall as his audacious strokeplay stunned the Knight Riders. He struck nine fours and two sixes – one of which was a stunning reverse sweep off Shakib al Hasan – in his 40-ball 73.

He and Peter Trego (28; 33b, 3×4) added 105 runs for the second wicket as Somerset seemed cruising towards victory.

However, Trego’s run out turned the tide and the Knight Riders prised out a couple of wickets to bring the game back to life. But the Somerset batsmen didn’t crack under the pressure and calmly collected the runs to take full points from the game.

Earlier, a well-paced half-century from Kallis and a Yusuf Pathan special breathed life into the Knight Riders’ innings. Consistency may not be his forte but what Yusuf can do is to change the course of the innings in the blink of an eye. The big-hitting Baroda all-rounder did just that to take Knight Riders’ to a competitive 161/3.

Pathan, who seemed far from comfortable running between the wickets, smashed four sixes off a hapless Arul Suppiah in the 15th over of the innings to bring the Knight Riders back into the game. The Kolkata outfit got 78 in the last six overs to make up for the poor start that they had after electing to bat.

Pathan remained unbeaten on 39 off 21 balls with four sixes to his credit but it was Kallis who provided the framework upon which Pathan built on. After Gautam Gambhir choose to make first use of the wicket, opener Manvinder Bisla got his side off to a flying start with two boundaries off the first two balls of the innings. But it was too good to last and Bisla (17; 13b, 2×4, 1×6) fell to medium-pacer Lewis Gregory.

Source: Times of India

Somerset out-fielded and out-bowled Kolkata Knight Riders to push them to the brink of elimination, but an ice-cool Ryan ten Doeschate hauled them alongside their opponents into the main draw of the Champions League. Kolkata needed 153 to qualify after Somerset had waltzed to an imposing 166 for 6 on a track that kept slowing down through the day. At 57 for 4 in the 10th over, they seemed to have lost the final spot to Ruhuna, but ten Doeschate pulled off a special heist to ensure there will be four IPL teams in the main draw.

Ruhuna ended up the biggest losers of the day, and Kolkata celebrated jubilantly despite falling short 11 of victory, but Somerset deserved the most praise. They arrived for the qualifiers bleary-eyed and dispirited, two days after losing their fifth domestic final in two years, and without five of their first-choice players. If they were knackered, they didn’t show it: Peter Trego batted with freedom despite not playing an ugly shot, Roelof van der Merwe was typically tigerish with bat and on the field, and the three-pronged spin attack was ruthless to the end.

Kolkata were at the other end of the spectrum, and their struggles were epitomised by the inability of Manoj Tiwary and Shreevats Goswami – batsmen bred on slow tracks – to force the pace against spin. That Kolkata had lost the in-form Manvinder Bisla and captain Jacques Kallis did not help matters, and things became worse when the legspinner Max Waller disloged both Tiwary and Goswami. Thereafter, ten Doeschate owned the night.

He announced himself with a lofted drive that Nick Compton palmed over the ropes at long-off, but that was the closest ten Doeschate came to being dismissed. With the asking-rate hovering out of reach, he dabbed Trego through point before whipping Arul Suppiah over midwicket. Yusuf Pathan was surprisingly subdued in his brief stay, but by the time he exited it was clear that the wicket that mattered was at the other end.

Kolkata were at the other end of the spectrum, and their struggles were epitomised by the inability of Manoj Tiwary and Shreevats Goswami – batsmen bred on slow tracks – to force the pace against spin. That Kolkata had lost the in-form Manvinder Bisla and captain Jacques Kallis did not help matters, and things became worse when the legspinner Max Waller disloged both Tiwary and Goswami. Thereafter, ten Doeschate owned the night.

He announced himself with a lofted drive that Nick Compton palmed over the ropes at long-off, but that was the closest ten Doeschate came to being dismissed. With the asking-rate hovering out of reach, he dabbed Trego through point before whipping Arul Suppiah over midwicket. Yusuf Pathan was surprisingly subdued in his brief stay, but by the time he exited it was clear that the wicket that mattered was at the other end.

Shakib Al Hasan’s stay was ended by a blinder in the outfield from van der Merwe, who single-handedly underlined the difference in fielding standards between the sides. Bhatia then held his nerve in a 30-run stand that took Kolkata close, while ten Doeschate continued to produce the fireworks with an audacious whip over midwicket for his third six. van der Merwe dismissed both batsmen in the final over, but it wasn’t enough to end Kolkata’s campaign.

Earlier, Somerset showed they had better methods against spin than their county rivals Leicestershire had displayed earlier in the day. Trego went after Abdulla despite not always managing to reach the flight, and his enterprise forced Jacques Kallis to rely on seamers more than he would have liked, a move that played into Somerset’s hands.

Somerset were 56 for 1 after eight overs, at which point Trego shifted gears against Bhatia’s mind-numbingly predictable lack of pace. Trego lost his balance while pulling him for four before cutting late for another boundary. The next over went for 17 as van der Merwe exploded against a raft of long-hops from Yusuf. Jaidev Unadkat gave Kolkata some respite when he got van der Merwe pulling to midwicket, and James Hildredt with a slower ball, but Trego bustled along unfettered, scoring his boundaries with a series of correct strokes. Unadkat was drilled through the covers, Jacques Kallis pulled through midwicket, and the Kolkata shoulders began to droop in a hurry.

Trego was starved of strike a touch in the end overs, but it did not seem to matter as Compton ramped Lee for six and stole a found a couple of inventive boundaries. More importantly for Somerset, Kolkata stayed generous right to the last over, with Unadkat making a hash of a regulation save at midwicket, and Lee getting a wicket of a no-ball. Kolkata’s fielders had done themselves no favours, but the itinerary that gave them the chance to play the last innings of the qualifier stage was about to.

Nitin Sundar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Kolkata Knight Riders edged out Champions League debutants Auckland Aces, successfully defending 121 in the sides’ first qualifier. Kolkata ran away with 72 for 0 in the first nine overs before the tenacious Auckland side pulled the game back, conceding just 49 runs in the remaining 11. Lou Vincent then scored 30 of his 40 runs in boundaries, even threatening a huge net run-rate advantage, but his run-out was followed by two wickets in three balls from Yusuf Pathan. The squeeze by Kolkata’s slower bowlers, who went for 66 in their 14 overs, left Auckland 22 to get off the last two. Andre Adams hit Jacques Kallis for a straight six to get 11 off the 19th, but Brett Lee’s yorkers proved too good for him and Kyle Mills.

The game was full of turnarounds. The first one came after Manvinder Bisla and Kallis got Kolkata’s campaign off to a smashing start. The inside-out shot over extra cover was a favourite for both, and Bisla was especially harsh on Chris Martin who bowled Test lengths to begin with. Bisla found them easy to pull and drive on the up. The left-arm seamer Michael Bates brought some control with his angle and extra bounce, and in his second over he produced a leading edge from Bisla.

Left-arm spinner Ronnie Hira and Martin then choked the runs a bit, and Kolkata started playing imprudent shots. Kallis would later say they had over-aimed. Yusuf was the first to show frustration, slogging all around a straight Adams delivery. Kallis fell next when he followed a spell of nine balls for seven runs with a heave straight to deep square leg. Two balls later, Manoj Tiwary slogged too, and the stumps lay splayed again. A couple of run-outs followed, and Kolkata never managed a final charge. Bates finished with figures of 4-0-13-1.

The run-out virus carried forward into the chase as Martin Guptill ran himself out without even facing a delivery. The decisive one, though, was yet to come. Before that, Vincent drove, cut and pulled with aplomb to take Auckland to 48 in six, bringing the asking-rate down to 5.28. Rajat Bhatia, now famous in Indian domestic Twenty20 competitions for his slow, rolling legcutters, and Yusuf bowled the next three overs for 12 runs. The last ball of those three featured impatience from Vincent, who charged off after hitting straight to cover, and couldn’t make it back from eight yards.

Yusuf then bowled two full deliveries on the pads that hardly turned, but Jimmy Adams and Rob Quiney somehow managed two leading edges, and Yusuf had two caught-and-bowled dismissals in the space of three balls. Another left-hand batsman, Colin Munro, scratched around for 19 off 29 before leaving Auckland an improbable task in the last two.

The pitch was slow, the bowlers were steady, but neither of them or the combination thereof was unplayable. Somehow, though, faced with accurate bowling and alert fielding, Auckland allowed themselves to be pushed into a corner until the required-rate reached 11 for the last two. Kallis then bowled his first over, removing Munro first ball and watching the second sail over the straight boundary. Mills and Adams ran hard, but Lee produced a good last over to give Kolkata a crucial win on a day when they didn’t play exceptional cricket.

Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo

Kolkata Knight Riders began nervously, Mumbai Indians finished similarly, but it was Mumbai who booked a place in the Champions League T20 and in the semi-final equivalent of IPL 2009. What will irk Kolkata is that they were the better side for 39 overs in the previous match between these sides, but one bad over then set up this rematch in the quarter-final equivalent. Mumbai did enough to make use on the second chance.

Kolkata’s top order came out trying too hard for a big start, losing four wickets for 20, and Ryan ten Doeschate’s 70 was not recovery enough on a good Wankhede track with short boundaries. A blazing start from Aiden Blizzard and Sachin Tendulkar seemed to have put to rest Mumbai’s habit of muddled chases, but they choked again. For the second night in a row, though, James Franklin took Mumbai home with a much less miraculous but much more assured 29, with much more on the line.

Munaf Patel bowled smartly to capitalise on Kolkata’s palpable nervous energy, taking three wickets, including those of Jacques Kallis and Yusuf Pathan. It was a subtle change-up immediately after being driven for four that sent Kallis back. The wicket-taking delivery was pitched in the similar area, but was bowled with a scrambled seam and hence a touch slower. The slice settled with a diving Tendulkar.

Gautam Gambhir, Sreevats Goswami and Manoj Tiwary concentrated just on the boundaries, in the process failing to place the good balls for singles. The dot balls mounted, and all three fell to shots they would normally not play. ten Deoschate played sensibly, though, looking for singles and punishing the bad ones. That calm rubbed off to Yusuf, their 60-run stand took the run-rate past six an over, and a big finish could not have been ruled out.

Munaf, though, returned to interrupt the comeback with more clever bowling. Convinced that the short ball would trouble Yusuf, he let his Baroda team-mate have some. The first one took a top edge for four, the second went for a single along the ground, and the third one was mistimed over midwicket. Munaf persisted, and with his fourth bouncer of the over, he sent his man back.

Ambati Rayudu, a part-time keeper, proceeded to miss ten Doeschate and Shakib Al Hasan in the next two overs. ten Doeschate went on to score the highest for a No. 6 this IPL, Kolkata got 60 in the last six, but they were still at start still meant Kolkata were a blazing start away from elimination. Blizzrad and Tendulkar provided just that. Blizzard relished the pace of Brett Lee, Tendulkar took care of the spin of Iqbal Abdulla and Yusuf Pathan. A lot of class and a lot of power merged effectively to bring up the fifty in the fifth over. There was remote semblance of redemption for Lee when he came back to remove Blizzard, but not before the batsman had hit him for four and six in that over.

Then Mumbai stumbled. Rohit Sharma ran himself out, Tendulkar fell to a sharp bouncer, and Rayudu seemed to have been sawn off. From 81 for 0 in the eighth over, Mumbai had been reduced to 103 for 4 in the 13th. A mini partnership happened, but Shakib trapped Pollard to make it 123 for 5. T Suman couldn’t handle the nerves and holed out to long-off.

The asking rate now crossed a run a ball for the last two overs, but a top edge off Lee’s first ball brought it back to 11 off 11. L Balaji, who failed to defend 21 in the last match, didn’t get a shot at redemption. The last over went to Shakib – his figures 3-0-17-2 until then – who needed to defend seven. Harbhajan lofted the second ball over midwicket, and let out a roar.

Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo

Kolkata Knight Riders had their Champions League debut all but booked when they began the last over with 21 to defend. Three edged boundaries off L Balaji and two missed yorkers later, James Franklin and Ambati Rayudu had seen Mumbai Indians to a highly unlikely win, breaking their three-match losing streak. The win set up a repeat clash between the two teams in the eliminator, an equivalent of a quarter-final.

In all the chaos of the last over, which stunned the full house at Eden Gardens, Chennai Super Kings emerged the biggest gainers. Had Kolkata won the game, which they should have despite all those edges, Chennai would have finished third, and would have had to win two games in order to make the final. Now they need win only one of the two.

Mumbai gained too: they needed to finish the chase off in 5.1 overs to make it to the top two, but by beating Kolkata they could have ensured a psychological advantage in their eliminator. For the best part of their 19 overs of batting, Mumbai scarcely looked like a team that could do so. Iqbal Abdulla removed T Suman in the second over, the pinch-hitter Harbhajan Singh managed 30 off 29, and Rajat Bhatia’s leg-rollers broke the batting order’s back with thee wickets in three overs.

At 96 for 4 in the 13th over, it seemed too much was left for Kieron Pollard and Franklin. Pollard lived up to that expectation, but Franklin kept the fight up mostly with well-placed couples. A six and a four in between meant Mumbai were not completely out of it even when Balaji ripped Pollard’s leg stump out with 40 required off 15.

If this was robbery in broad floodlights, Kolkata weren’t the most vigilant victims either. As much as the edged boundaries in the last over, Kolkata will also look back at little moments towards the end that proved to be decisive. Balaji bowled a wide with one ball left in the 18th over, and Ambati Rayudu lofted the compensation delivery over extra cover for a six. It wouldn’t be Rayudu’s last six of the night.

The last ball of the 19th over hit Rayudu in the pad and rolled towards the keeper. The batsmen had all but stolen a leg-bye when wicketkeeper Shreevats Goswami went for a direct hit, and conceded an overthrow. That kept Franklin – 28 off 18 now – on strike for the last over. L Balaji went for a wide yorker first ball, and a thick edge off the low full toss went between the keeper and the short third man. A slower bouncer followed, and the tope edge cleared the keeper again. Thirteen off four now looked so much more gettable.

Balaji went back to the wide-yorker plan, and Franklin smacked the next low full toss past extra cover for four. Under pressure and in the face of some ill luck, Balaji was just not landing them right. The next ball was a low, wide full toss again, and another thick edge beat third man to make it five of two. The next low full toss found extra cover, and brought Kolkata some relief. However, just then Balaji chose to bowl the worst delivery of the over – a high full toss on the pads – and Rayudu helped himself to his second, and decisive, six.

The stunned Eden gardens crowd could scarcely believe what they were seeing after they had cheered their team all night to what looked like a comfortable win. Most of it was thanks to Jacques Kallis who batted solidly at first and rapaciously towards the end. Along the way he was helped by breezy 30s from Manoj Tiwary and Yusuf Pathan, but it was Kallis who provided the innings the final impetus with 19 off the last five balls he faced. It was fitting then that the man who minimised the damage with the wickets of Kallis and Yusuf was none other than Franklin.

Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo

A challenging wicket provides a gripping contest. Not necessarily between the teams but at least between the bat and ball. This was on display when Pune Warriors tried to spoil Kolkata Knight Riders’ party at the DY Patil stadium on Thursday night.

The ‘contest’ was largely limited to first innings only. And it meant Pune’s aspiration to beat the Big Brother remained just a wish.

Kolkata Knight Riders hammered them by seven wickets with more than three overs to spare. The win gives them a remote chance to finish in the top-two and qualify for the ‘soft’ semifinal (winner goes to final, loser plays the quarters) if Mumbai lose to Rajasthan.

Pune will visit Delhi for the Saturday game in a match to avoid wooden-spoon while Adam Gilchrist’s Kings XI Punjab are almost out of play-off contention due to their inferior net run rate.

Yusuf Pathan made use getting promotion despite being clueless on many occasions. Batting at No. 4, he made 29 off 25. Surprisingly, the fours came behind point before a trademark six off Bhuvnesh Kumar over long-on.

Captain Gambhir (54, 46b, 7x4s) was his usual self: crafty yet quiet; effective but not belligerent. The target of 119 was a child’s play for his team. Pune’s sloppy fielding came as unwanted bonus and without enough runs on the board, leggie Rahul Shrama wasn’t a big weapon.

Kolkata won the toss, opted to bowl and restricted Pune Warriors to 118 for seven. Yuvraj Singh batted at No. 6 and top scored with 24 off 26 with two fours.

The wicket unexpectedly behaved a bit differently and assisted the spinners more. And that led to some odd happenings. The spin troika of Yusuf, Shakib Al Hasan and Iqbal Abdulla bowled 11 overs between them and conceded 51 runs for five wickets.

KKR’s specialist paceman L. Balaji was ‘introduced’ to the attack in the 20th and last over and took two wickets. Gambhir, who rotated his bowlers superbly, gave two overs on a trot to his pacemen just once despite having the likes of Balaji, Brett Lee and Jacques Kallis in his ranks.

When Robin Uthappa came in to bat, he faced a slip and silly point. Even his ‘dot’ ball (immediately after Balaji failed to judge his catch at deep mid-wicket) was applauded by non-striker and former KKR captain Sourav Ganguly.

Ganguly took 19 balls before hitting his first boundary. He ran 12 singles of his own and ran his partners’ 12 runs too.
During the drinks break, KKR bowling coach Wasim Akram was seen inside the ropes having a chat with his wards.

Though off-spinner Yusuf gave KKR the first wicket (Jesse Ryder playing amateur dolly to long-off), it was the ‘visitors’ left-arm spinners Abdulla and Shakib who were a treat to watch.

Abdulla’s first ball turned sharply as Manish Pandey tried to search for it. A ball in the same over held its line and had him lbw. Shakib bowled tight line and had Calum Ferguson stumped with a ball that dipped in and turned away sharply. Despite all this, the batsmen had their moments.

Source: Times of India

Brett Lee sledged, Gautam Gambhir sighed in agony, and the crowd lapped it up in delight as Chris Gayle’s brutal cameo obliterated the below-par target set by Kolkata Knight Riders in a rain-hit game in Bangalore. Though the chase went into the final over, and Royal Challengers Bangalore lost a few quick wickets in the end, Gayle’s 12-ball 38 had effectively killed the contest in just 2.4 overs of the chase. With the win, Bangalore made it seven victories on the trot and qualified for the playoffs.

Though Gayle dealt them the final blow, it was Kolkata’s batting, which bordered on over-aggression, and the rain, that reduced the game to a 13-over contest, that really cost them the game. Kolkata were 69 for 3 in 11 overs when rain left them with only two more overs to bat, and they reached 89 for 4. Bangalore were set a Duckworth/Lewis adjusted target of 102 and Gayle’s blitz ensured they could soak up the loss of quick wickets and reach the target.

The first over of the chase perfectly caught Gayle’s fury and Kolkata’s disappointment: Edge. Blast. Sledge. Edge. Crash. Gayle edged the first delivery to the third man boundary, crashed the second over cover, dug out a screaming yorker next – Lee sledged at this point, collected a four with a top-edged pull off the fifth ball and walloped the fifth to the cover-point boundary.

Kolkata’s troubles didn’t end with that 16-run over, for Jaidev Unadkat was looted for 23 in the next over. Luke Pomersbach, who replaced Tillakaratne Dilshan, started with a square-cut boundary before Gayle took over. He top-edged a six over third man before launching the next delivery on to the second tier of the stand beyond long-on. Although Gayle fell, top-edging a Lee delivery to Kallis, he had put Bangalore on course. They lost a few wickets in the end but there was never any danger of them losing their way.

It was with their batting that Kolkata lost the game. Sometimes, you can get over-aggressive. Sometimes, you need to shift to a Plan B but Kolkata seemed too eager to dominate. In their attempt to attack, they perhaps crossed the line. Even Jacques Kallis was nearly slogging and heaving at deliveries. Gautam Gambhir went too hard at deliveries and Eoin Morgan tried to cut nearly every delivery he faced. The result? They were reduced to 30 for 3 in the sixth over. They recovered to reach 69 for 3 in 11 overs but then rain soaked the playing arena. A long wait ensued and the game was restricted to 13 overs upon resumption.

Bangalore did everything right; they attacked relentlessly and suffocated the batsmen. They hurled down the bouncers, slipped in the occasional yorker, they got the ball to swing and seam a bit and always attacked. Eoin Morgan couldn’t get Zaheer Khan away and fell, charging out and flicking straight to midwicket. Jacques Kallis was intent on playing the big shots and he fell, edging an attempted heave off Charl Langeveldt. Bangalore’s change-up bowlers, Abimanyu Mithun and S Aravind, too kept it really tight and Bangalore’s sharp fielding did its bit in keeping Kolkata in check. When Gambhir tried to break free with a cut, AB de Villiers lunged to his left at backward point to take a sharp chance. It was left to Yusuf Pathan to give Kolkata a decent total but it didn’t prove enough.

Source: NDTV Cricket