Kolkata ends with heads up high

The Kolkata Knight Riders bid adieu to the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) by securing a win off their last over against the Kings XI Punjab.

Skipper Sourav Ganguly led from the front and was well assisted by Umar Gul in chasing the 174/6 set by the Mohali franchise for victory. In Match 52 of the IPL played at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, the home side beat the Kings XI Punjab by 3 wickets to win their sixth match of the tournament.

Set a target of 175 for victory, Ganguly marched in to bat along with fellow opener, Salman Butt. Both openers played their shots but also looked cautious to save their wickets. They put on a partnership of 45 when Mohali suddenly struck twice in two balls. Butt (24) and Debabrata Das (0) were both victims of Sreesanth who was on a hat-trick. David Hussey (12) then partnered his captain for a while but was soon out courtesy Piyush Chawla.

Ganguly seemed to be running out of partners as the Mohali bowlers kept picking up wickets at regular intervals. The captain found an unusual ally in his pace bowler, Umar Gul. Together the duo put on 49 runs in just 18 balls.

Gul, who is not the best known striker of a cricket ball, seemed in good form striking three sixes and one boundary in his cameo of 24 which came from 11 balls. When he departed in the penultimate over, Kolkata needed 20 runs from 9 balls with 3 wickets in hand.

This was Kolkata’s last match in the tournament. They have already failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the tournament and were playing their final IPL match for pride.

Sourav Ganguly figured he had nothing to lose. With 15 runs required from the last over Sourav Ganguly slogged his India teammate Irfan Pathan for two huge sixes and made the remaining three runs comfortably to take his side home with three balls to spare. He ended with 86 off 53 balls which consisted of 6 boundaries and an equal number of sixes.

Earlier in the day, Yuvraj Singh, captain of the Mohali franchise won the toss and elected to set a target. Shaun Marsh and Kumar Sangakkara continued their good form from the previous game putting on an 83-run partnership in just over 9 overs.

Marsh scored 40 runs, continuing his good record in the tournament and Sangakkara scored his second successive half-century. He was out on 64 after being castled by Umar Gul. The captain Yuvraj Singh (27) and Mahela Jayawardena (11*) then made a few runs but it was the lower middle order that failed to propel Punjab to a competitive score.

The Mohali franchise only managed 11 runs from the last two overs thanks to some tight bowling by Umar Gul who conceded just 4 runs from the last over. The Pakistani bowler picked up 4 wickets for 23 runs from his 4 overs. He was adjudicated the Player of the Match for his all-round efforts with bat and ball.

This was Kolkata’s last match in the IPL and they bid adieu to the 2008 edition of the IPL on a good note after sadly being relegated from the tournament a few days back. The Mohali franchise may have lost but they have nothing to worry about as they are already assured of a berth in the semi-finals at the Wankhede Stadium in less than a week’s time.

The next match of the IPL will see the Mumbai Indians battle it out against the Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium at Jaipur on May 26.

Mumbai have to win this match to have any chance of qualifying for the semi-finals. Rajasthan, on the other hand, will be hoping to avenge the defeat they faced at the hands of the Mumbai Indians the previous time these two sides met.

All said and done, tomorrow’s battle promises to be a good contest and a fight to the finish.