Having never managed to go past the league stage in the first three editions of the IPL, Shah Rukh Khan’s team looks set for a giant stride forward.
Kolkata, it seems, will finally break their first-round jinx. Having never managed to go past the league stage in the first three editions of the IPL, Shah Rukh Khan’s team looks set for a giant stride forward. On Thursday, they recorded an important win over Pune Warriors to virtually assure themselves of a berth in the playoffs. They won by seven wickets.
Chasing a modest 119, the Kinght Riders reached their target in just 16.4 overs losing only three wickets. Skipper Gautam Gambhir led from the front, anchoring the chase with utmost application and circumspection. He remained unbeaten on 54. With this win they jump to third in the table with 16 points.
Earlier, Kolkata restricted Pune to a lowly 118 for seven with some quality spin bowling. Gambhir rightly elected to bowl on a pitch which, surprisingly, provided assistance for his slow bowers. Pune Warriors were all but dancing to the tunes of Kolkata’s three-pronged spin attack consisting of Yusuf Pathan, Iqbal Abdulla and Shakib Al Hasan. The trio conceded a miserly 51 runs between them in 11 overs. Not to forget, they took five wickets.
Pathan stuck as early as in the second over when Jesse Ryder (1) tried to make room but managed to hole it to Manoj Tiwary just outside the thirty-yard circle. Once touted to be the next big thing in Indian cricket, Manish Pandey continued his poor run this season. A tentative push through the covers and an edge past a flying first slip got him boundaries but not confidence.
Pandey was undone by a left-arm spinner’s perfectly plotted plan. Iqbal Abdulla, bowling the fourth over, got the first ball to turn viciously, the second one was tossed and the third one, an arm ball, trapped Pandey (16) right in front.
One-down Callum Ferguson was never in the scheme of things. It was amply proved when he actually got off the mark only off the seventh ball he faced. After Pandey’s fall, Sourav Ganguly entered the arena to a loud applause. The two slowed down the game to some extent dealing in dot balls and singles.
Ganguly looked clueless against Hasan and Abdulla. In the seventh over, bowled by Hasan, Ganguly charged down only to find himself in no-man’s land and the ball kissed his gloves before running centimetres away from the stumps. Their association never looked assuring and soon Ferguson was undone by a peach of a delivery from Hasan.
Ganguly did show glimpse of his old days by smashing Abdulla for a vintage straight six in the 10th over. Along with an adventurous Robin Uthappa, Ganguly stitched another 27-run partnership before falling tamely to Hasan. Ganguly swept a loopy ball outside the off to Pathan, stationed at backward square leg.
Next over, Uthappa holed out in deep mid-wicket region to Brett Lee and become Pathan’s second victim. Yuvraj did play a few good shots and it looked as if the home side might just get the much-needed boost.
Along with debutant Sachin Rana, Yuvraj put on the highest partnership (34). But it was too little too late. The southpaw (24) got a top-edge to L Balaji off the third ball of the last over. Balaji ended the miserable Pune Warriors innings with a perfect yorker which disturbed Rana’s (18) timber.
Brief Scores: Pune Warriors 118/7 (Y Singh 24; L Balaji 2/7, S Al Hasan 2/16, Y Pathan 2/23) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 119/3 in 16.4 overs (G Gambhir 54, Y Pathan 29)
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