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IPL: Kolkata's knights shine

Gautam Gambhir set the stadium ablaze with a brilliant 64 (39 balls, 9x4, 1x6) to help his team post 165 for eight.

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A minor fire at the Chinnaswamy delayed the start of the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders here on Tuesday but the real fireworks were to come later. Gautam Gambhir set the stadium ablaze with a brilliant 64 (39 balls, 9x4, 1x6) to help his team post 165 for eight. Lakshmipathy Balaji then bowled a match-winning spell (four for 18) as KKR notched up a 42-run win.

After boldly dropping Brendon McCullum, Gambhir decided to open the innings. After a cautious start, he and Jacques Kallis unleashed themselves on the RCB bowlers. The two put on 60 in the six powerplay overs before Kallis (22, 23 balls, 3x4, 1x6) was dismissed by Daniel Vettori.

But Gambhir continued with his onslaught. He was well supported by Manvinder Bisla, who started using the long handle right from the word go. Gambhir completed his fifty in just 28 balls.

Bisla hit three sixes and two boundaries during his blistering knock, but was unlucky to miss out on a half century. When the two were at the centre, it looked as if KKR would cross the 200-run mark.

But Bisla’s dismissal in the 14th over triggered a collapse. Yusuf Pathan (1) was out cheaply and after Gambhir headed back to the pavilion, none of the other batsmen managed to reach double figures. In the last seven overs, the visitors managed only 42. They lost seven wickets in that period to end the innings at 165 for eight.

With the likes of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in their ranks, RCB would have fancied their chances. But the KKR pacers made things difficult for the RCB batsmen.

In no time, Kallis got rid of openers Cheteshwar Pujara (6) and Gayle (2). Kallis and Brett Lee also kept the run flow in check. RCB could score only 20 runs off the first five overs. The sixth over was a wicket maiden for Balaji, who sent back Kohli (6). Balaji then picked up the wickets of de Villiers (10), Mayank Agarwal (5) and Vettori (20) to hasten RCB’s end. The hosts ended up with 123 for nine in 20 overs.

Scorecard
Kolkata Knight Riders: J Kallis c de Villiers b Vettori 22, G Gambhir c Patel b Khan 64, M Bisla st de Villiers b Muralitharan 46,
Y Pathan c Gayle b RV Kumar 1,
M Tiwary c Agarwal b Khan 2,
R ten Doeschate c Vettori b Muralitharan 3, Shakib Al Hasan
c Pujara b RV Kumar 4, L Shukla
c Khan b Patel 5, B Lee not out 8,
R Bhatia not out 4; Extras: (LB4, W2) 6
Total: (8 wickets; 20 overs) 165 (8.25 runs per over)
Fall of Wickets: 1-60, 2-125,
3-126, 4-139, 5-140, 6-143, 7-151, 8-154
Bowling: Z Khan 4-0-31-2,
V Kumar 4-0-18-2, H Patel
4-0-46-1, M Muralitharan
4-0-31-2, D Vettori 3-0-22-1,
V Kohli 1-0-13-0
Royal Challengers Bangalore: C Pujara c Pathan b Kallis 6,
C Gayle c Shukla b Kallis 2,
V Kohli c Tiwary b Balaji 6, AB de Villiers b Balaji 10, S Tiwary c Shukla b ten Doeschate 18, M Agarwal c Gambhir b Balaji 5,
D Vettori b Balaji 20, R Vinay Kumar c Shukla b Hasan 25,
H Patel b Hasan 10, Z Khan not out 11; Extras: (B1, LB1, W8) 10
Total: (9 wickets; 20 overs) 123
Fall of Wickets: 1-7, 2-8, 3-20, 4-25, 5-33, 6-60, 7-78, 8-106,
9-123
Bowling: B Lee 4-0-21-0, J Kallis 2-0-7-2, L Balaji 4-1-18-4,
R Bhatia 4-0-30-0, RT Doeschate 3-0-24-1, S Hasan 3-0-21-2

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