Knights overpower Challengers in tight encounter
The Kolkata Knight Riders defeated the Bangalore Royal Challengers by a close margin of 5 runs to win its third match of the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) at the historic Eden Gardens last night.
The two teams had earlier met in the opening match of the Twenty20 tournament on April 18 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. Kolkata had won the first contest as well. Now at the half-way stage, the tournament will feature teams playing each other again
After rain played spoilsport and delayed the start of Match 29, the match at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata was reduced to a 16 over-a-side contest.
Sourav Ganguly, captain of the Knight Riders, won the toss and decided to bat. Kolkata did not get off to the best of starts but its middle order showed some resistance to a decent Bangalore bowling attack.
Being a 16-over innings, it was understandable that all batsmen went for their shots early. The urgency to steal quick runs saw Sourav Ganguly and David Hussey, both batsmen who looked set for good scores, lose their wickets to excellent run-outs.
Cameron White’s diving direct-hit got rid of Ganguly while it was Dale Steyn’s excellent arm that got rid of Hussey.
However, the Kolkata middle order put up a defiant show and scored runs freely. The boundaries kept flowing and the scoreboard kept ticking. At the end it was a good overall contribution by Kolkata who ended up with 129/7 in their 16 overs.
Steyn was the pick of the Bangalore bowlers picking up 3 wickets for 27 runs from his 4 overs.
Bangalore started its innings cautiously but lost J. Arunkumar and Shivnarine Chanderpaul within the first five overs. The asking rate was soon beginning to climb for Bangalore with each dot ball.
Ashok Dinda and Ishant Sharma bowled at less than 7 runs per over and did not give the Bangalore batsmen a chance to achieve their required run-rate.
Sourav Ganguly, the Kolkata skipper, then decided to turn his arm over and returned with 7 runs in 3 overs and the important scalp of Bangalore captain, Rahul Dravid.
Cameron White, known for his Twenty20 exploits, looked to take the game away from the Knight Riders but was dismissed thanks to a run-out by Murali Kartik.
It was then left to the experienced South African Mark Boucher to guide his side home to victory. But 19 runs proved too difficult to achieve in the last over with Sharma bowling his full length fast deliveries.
A valiant half-century by Mark Boucher still saw his side on the losing end, their sixth in eight matches. This sets them at the bottom of the points table with a lot to achieve if they plan to make it to the next stage.
This was Kolkata’s third win in seven games putting them in fifth position on the points table and still in contention for a berth in the top four. Sourav Ganguly was named Player of the Match for his 20 runs with the willow and bowling figures of 1 wicket for 7 runs off 3 overs.
The next match of the IPL will be played between the Rajasthan Royals and the Deccan Chargers at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium at Jaipur.