IPL 2010: Knight Riders signs off with consolation win

McCullum and Ganguly guide their team home with a steady opening stand

A steady 97-run opening-wicket stand between skipper Sourav Ganguly and Brendon McCullum gave Kolkata Knight Riders a launching pad for its comfortable nine-wicket win against Mumbai Indians in the final league match of the DLF IPL-III at the Eden Gardens here on Monday. It was KKR's first win against MI in six meetings.

Set a target of 134, KKR reached 135 for one in 17.3 overs to register its biggest victory in terms of wickets. McCullum remained unbeaten on 57 (56b, 8x4) and David Hussey was not out on 20. Ganguly, the lone man dismissed, scored 42 (36b, 4x4, 2x6).

Mumbai Indians rested five of its regulars, including Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh.

Opting to bat, it found the going rather difficult on a slow pitch as Shane Bond struck two early blows, removing Aditya Tare and Shikhar Dhawan cheaply. The third wicket pair of Saurabh Tiwary and J.P. Duminy played sensibly to keep the scoreboard ticking.

The pair was separated when Duminy played across to left-arm pacer Jaidev Unadkat and was bowled for 19.

Saurabh and Duminy added 63 in 60 balls. Tiwary too left at the same score, taken by McCullum at long-on off Kartik for a well compiled 46 (37b, 4x4, 1x6).

KKR conceded only 20 runs in the six overs from 10th to 15th that put the brakes on MI's efforts to accelerate the scoring.

Thereafter, captain Dwayne Bravo, Rajagopal Sathish and Stuart Binny left in quick succession trying to force the pace.

Late charge

A late charge by Ambati Rayudu for a 15-ball 27 livened up play and also enabled MI to reach 133 for eight wickets in 20 overs — its lowest against KKR.

Kartik, who was the pick of the bowlers with figures of two for 20, was adjudged the Man-Of- the-Match.

Shane Bond also got two wickets for 24 runs. Dinda, Unadkat and Tiwary claimed a wicket apiece.

The scores:

Mumbai Indians: A. Tare c Kartik b Bond 1 (3b), S. Dhawan c Saha b Bond 10 (11b, 1x4), S. Tiwary c McCullum b Kartik 46 (37b, 4x4, 1x6), J.P. Duminy b Unadkat 19 (27b, 2x4), R. Sathish c Kartik b Tiwary 11 (11b, 1x4), D. Bravo st Saha b Kartik 5 (9b), A. Rayudu (run out) 27 (15b, 3x4, 1x6), S. Binny c Ganguly b Dinda 8 (5b, 1x4), R. McLaren (not out) 0 (2b); Extras (b-2, lb-2, w-2) 6. Total (for eight wkts., in 20 overs) 133.

Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-14, 3-77, 4-77, 5-89, 6-111, 7-126, 8-133.

Kolkata Knight Riders bowling: Bond 4-0-24-2, Dinda 4-0-20-1, Unadkat 4-0-27-1, Ganguly 1-0-13-0, Kartik 4-0-20-2, Hussey 2-0-14-0, Tiwary 1-0-11-1.

Kolkata Knight Riders: S. Ganguly c Bravo b Sathish 42 (36b, 4x4, 2x6), B. McCullum (not out) 57 (56b, 8x4), D. Hussey (not out) 20 (14b, 1x4, 1x6); Extras: (lb-2, nb-5, w-9) 16. Total: (for one wkt., in 17.3 overs) 135.

Fall of wicket: 1-97.

Mumbai Indians bowling: Murtaza 4-0-27-0, Fernando 3-0-31-0, McLaren 3-0-26-0, Bravo 2-0-7-0, Binny 1-0-9-0, Duminy 2.3-0-22-0, Sathish 2-0-11-1 .

IPL 2010: Knight Riders back in the hunt

Kolkata Knight Riders snapped Delhi Daredevils' four-match winning streak with a 15-run victory in their DLF-IPL III match at the Eden Gardens here on Wednesday.

Needing a victory to stay in contention for a semifinal spot, Knight Riders rose to the occasion to win its fifth match in 10 games. It was Daredevils' fourth loss in as many games.

Batting first, Knight Riders put on a challenging 181 for three and restricted Daredevils to 166 for eight.

Disastrous start

Daredevils' chase began on a disastrous note as David Warner was castled by Ashok Dinda off the fifth ball of the innings. Skipper Gautam Gambhir joined Virender Sehwag and the two took the attack to the Knight Riders camp. Angelo Mathews came in for harsh treatment, conceding 30 in his first two overs.

At 99 for one in the 11th over, Daredevils seemed well on course when Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly, who had a delightful day, ran out Gambhir.

Sehwag, however, continued in characteristic fashion. He made 64 off 40 deliveries with six fours and three huge sixes. The Daredevils opener had earlier enjoyed a reprieve on 35 when Iqbal Abdulla, playing in place of the injured Murali Kartik, spilled a sharp chance at deep midwicket off Ajantha Mendis.

Turning point

The game turned on its head when Ajit Agarkar bowled Sehwag with his team still needing 48 for victory. Daredevils then kept losing wickets at regular intervals and eventually finished 15 runs short.

Earlier, Sourav Ganguly won his third successive toss and opted to bat. He also began the innings with a flurry of boundaries as Knight Riders raced to 22 in two overs. Daniel Vettori, bowling the second over, conceded 15.

Chris Gayle, content to play second fiddle, opened up in the seventh over, sending Amit Mishra over the long-on fence and hitting two more boundaries. Rajat Bhatia, introduced in the ninth over, provided Daredevils the breakthrough by dismissing Gayle. The openers added 94 in 10.2 overs to set a solid platform.

Ganguly reached his 50 off 42 balls with eight fours and a six off Paul Collingwood before falling for 56. Brendon McCullum, playing his first match, survived a run out chance as soon as he arrived at the crease before being dismissed in the same fashion.

Brisk scoring

Mathews and Manoj Tiwary scored at a brisk rate in the closing stages, adding 51 off the last four overs. The former smashed two sixes and three fours in his 28-ball unbeaten 46 while Tiwary was not out on 26 (18b, 1x4, 1x6).

The two strung together 70 in 6.5 overs for the fourth wicket to give Knight Riders a total that proved beyond Daredevils.

The scores:

Kolkata Knight Riders: S. Ganguly b Vettori 56 (46b, 8x4, 1x6), C. Gayle b Bhatia 40 (21b, 5x4, 2x6), B. McCullum (run out) 6 (7b), M. Tiwary (not out) 26 (18b, 1x4, 1x6), A. Mathews (not out) 46 (28b, 3x4, 2x6); Extras (lb-1, w-6): 7; Total (for three wkts. in 20 overs): 181.

Fall of wickets: 1-94, 2-104, 3-111.

Delhi Daredevils bowling: Maharoof 3-0-30-0, Vettori 4-0-30-1, Sangwan 3-0-30-0, Mishra 4-0-41-0, Collingwood 2-0-19-0, Bhatia 4-0-30-1.

Delhi Daredevils: D. Warner b Dinda 0 (5b), V. Sehwag b Agarkar 64 (40b, 6x4, 3x6), G. Gambhir (run out) 47 (29b, 6x4, 1x6), P. Collingwood c Mathews b Mendis 2 (3b), D. Karthik c McCullum b Dinda 20 (17b, 2x4), K. Jadhav c Ganguly b Mendis 5 (8b), F. Maharoof b Abdulla 2 (3b), R. Bhatia (run out) 1 (3b), D. Vettori (not out) 12 (6b, 2x4), A. Mishra (not out) 4 (6b); Extras (b-1, lb-4, w-4): 9; Total (for eight wkts. in 20 overs): 166.

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-99, 3-103, 4-134, 5-144, 6-147, 7-149, 8-152.

Kolkata Knight Riders bowling: Dinda 4-0-21-2, Agarkar 4-0-36-1, Mathews 3-0-43-0, Mendis 4-0-22-2, Ganguly 1-0-12-0, Abdulla 4-0-27-1.

IPL 2010: Kolkata Knight Riders beat Deccan Chargers by 24 runs

In the history of sports, there emerge players who should never be written off. Having come back from the brink in the longer versions of the game, Sourav Ganguly showed that the game is not over when it comes to T20 either. The 54-ball 88 was as well timed as some of the shots, for it handed the Kolkata Knight Riders a lifeline they were desperately seeking.

To say that Ganguly was under pressure coming into this game is an understatement. He was opening with moderate success, being unable to take advantage of the fielding restrictions in the first six overs or rotate the strike.

Eden Gardens on Thursday witnessed something different. Running between the wickets was not ideal, but the quality of shot production was as good as it could be.

The first ball of the match was impeccably timed over square-leg, the third towards the Ganguly Zone behind point and the show went on.

There was not much in terms of support from the other end barring David Hussey to an extent, but the skipper of the Knights was batting like a man possessed. There was a range of shots on display and after a long time, the spinners were imperiously hoisted into the stands.

It was as much a display of batting skills as character because the team needed this win badly to stay in reckoning for a semifinal berth. With Chris Gayle failing, the responsibility on Ganguly had multiplied and for once, he forced a smile from Shah Rukh Khan. A lot had been said and written about him in the recent past and the man used to such criticism chose the right time to hit back.

The Deccan Chargers were in it for a considerable period of time, but the slowness of the pitch and wickets at critical junctures derailed their chase. They were off to a good start, rattling up 59 in six overs and the asking rate was not beyond control up to some time. It's just that they lost wickets when they couldn't afford to. It was a collective effort by the Knights while bowling. While batting, it was obviously a one-man show which ultimately made the difference.

IPL 2010: Kolkata Knight Riders beat Kings XI Punjab by 39 runs

Ajit Agarkar and Shane Bond took two wickets each after Manoj Tiwary and Sourav Ganguly hit 75 and 50 respectively as Kolkata Knight Riders beat Kings XI Punjab by 39 runs in their IPL clash at PCA Stadium in Mohali on Saturday.

Chasing a victory target of 184 runs, Kings XI managed to score 144/6 in their 20 overs.

Irfan Pathan's was the last wicket to fall when he was dismissed caught and bowled by Bond.

Kings XI effectively lost the match when Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara were dismissed in consecutive overs to leave the hosts tottering at 98/5.

Jayawardene (16) edged a full length delivery by Angelo Mathews onto his stumps while trying to play it to fine leg and in the next over Sangakkara went for a switch-hit against Chris Gayle and not only missed the delivery but also stumbled out of his crease to be stumped by Wriddhiman Saha.

Ajit Agarkar took his second wicket in his second over when he had Manvinder Bisla caught by David Hussey at mid-off to reduce Kings XI to 54/3.

Manoj Tiwary took a superb catch at deep mid-wicket as Agarkar dismissed Yuvraj Singh (24) for his first wicket in his first over.

Shane Bond trapped Ravi Bopara plumb in front of the wicket on the second ball as Kings XI Punjab got off to a poor start chasing 184 to win.

Kings XI lost their first wicket without a run on the board but Bopara was unlucky to given out as the ball was going over the stumps.

Earlier, Manoj Tiwary's unbeaten 75 and Sourav Ganguly's 50 enabled Knight Riders to set a 184-run target for Kings XI.

Tiwary hit 2 sixes and 8 fours in his 47-ball knock and hit Irfan Pathan for 2 sixes and 2 fours in the last over of the Knight Riders' innings.

Brett Lee took a good catch in the covers to send Angelo Mathews back to the dugout to give Pathan his second wicket.

Sourav Ganguly and David Hussey fell in successive overs shortly before Tiwary reached his fifty.

Pathan had Ganguly (50) caught by Piyush Chawla at mid-off as Knight Riders lost their third wicket.

In the next over, Chawla clean bowled Hussey (3) to reduce Knight Riders to 130/4.

Ganguly hit a 37-ball 50 soon after Kolkata Knight Riders crossed the 100-run mark.

This is Ganguly's first IPL 50 after 16 inings and came when his team needed it the most.

Ganguly's 50 came after Shalabh Srivastava had Mandeep Singh caught by Brett Lee at mid-on as Kolkata Knight Riders lost their second wicket.

This was Srivastava's second wicket in as many overs.

Manvinder Bisla took a superb catch at deep square leg as Kolkata Knight Riders lost Chris Gayle in the third over.

Gayle mistimed a pull off a Srivastava delivery and Bisla running from deep mid-wicket, dived and plucked the ball out of thin air to take the catch just in front of the ropes.

Gayle's dismissal brought some relief to the Kings XI camp as the swashbuckling batsman had already hit 3 fours in his 12-ball 14 after Ganguly won the toss and elected to bat.

Kolkata dropped Murali Kartik, Ishant Sharma, Chetweshwar Pujara, Harpreet Singh and brought in Ajit Agarkar, Manoj Tiwary, Iqbal Abdulla and David Hussey.

Punjab dropped S Sreesanth, Mohammad Kaif and Juan Theron and brought in Vikramjeet Malik, Karan Goel and Brett Lee.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Sourav Ganguly (Capt.), Chris Gayle, Manoj Tiwary, Mandeep Singh, David Hussey, Angelo Mathews, Wriddhiman Saha, Shane Bond, Ajit Agarkar, Ashok Dinda, Iqbal Abdulla.

Kings XI Punjab: Kumar Sangakkara (Capt.), Ravi Bopara, Manvinder Bisla, Yuvraj Singh, Mahela Jayawardene, Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Shalabh Srivastava, Brett Lee, Karan Goel, Vikramjeet Malik.

IPL 2010: SRK’s Knight Riders face first loss

Shah Rukh's thoughts on his team's performance: "Work Harder"

Shah Rukh Khan's IPL team, the Kolkata Knight Riders, crumbled before the Chennai Super Kings in their third match of the tournament this year. In the match played at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, today (March 16), the Knight Riders were set a target of 164/3 by the Super Kings. In reply, they were all out for 109 runs.

This was a disappointing turn from SRK's team which started the tournament with a victory over defending champions The Deccan Chargers. SRK was at the stadium for the match today, watching with IPL Chairman Lalit Modi. He had been on his feet and clapping when his team scored boundaries but became progressively more serious as the match started clearly getting away from them. He had tweeted earlier in the day, "Hope lots of people come to cheer the team. day before was fantastic. the sound..the music...the win....nothing like kolkata & eden gardens."

But Shah Rukh is probably going to be philosophical about the loss. His attitude can be understood from his Twitter post yesterday. "Prevoius record shows we lose after initial success? ha ah wot previous record only shows we didnt win thats all. this time work harder." Hope his team follows his advice

IPL 2010: Another win for SRK’s Knight Riders

And this time, Shah Rukh was watching at the stadium, not from home

It looks like inviting cricket coaching suggestions from the public is working for Shah Rukh Khan’s IPL team, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). They’ve won their second match of IPL 2010, defeating the Royal Challengers Bangalore team. KKR were set a target of 135 runs, and they scored 136/3 in 19.2 overs

Playing at the Eden Gardens ground in Kolkata, victory must have been sweeter for the team who had a rather disappointing run at the tournament’s last edition. This year, though, has started out as a different story. And for all those saying that SRK’s team probably wins when he isn’t watching the match at the stadium, the superstar proved them wrong. He and wife Gauri were at the stadium for this match, unlike the last one where they watched from home.

And, as usual, SRK was active on Twitter before the match, in turns funny and serious. He tweeted a little before the match, “will watch it in the stadium if all our seatings etc r done. otherwise with the family at the hotel. lalit brian lara all here.” As it happened, SRK and Gauri were sitting near Lalit Modi and Brian Lara, and chatting while the match was on.

He had tweeted yesterday, “my mother in law has given some fielding tips which she says i need to pass onto the team. will mention it to the team for a laugh tom.ha ha.” Well, whatever tips have been passed on to the KKR team, they seem to be working!

And while SRK provided the star quotient for his team, the Royal Challengers Bangalore had Katrina Kaif (looking all pretty in a red team jersey) cheering for them.

IPL 2010: Kolkata Knight Riders beat Deccan Chargers

Knight Riders start IPL 3 campaign with win

Kolkata Knight Riders, which finished at the bottom of the table in IPL 2, started their IPL 3 campaign in style, as they beat defending champion Deccan Chargers by 11 runs.

The match witnessed many ups and downs and Deccan Chargers were in a commanding position mo [Ganguly_Shastri] st of the times. However, the fate of the game changed in the last 4/5 overs and KKR emerged as the winner.

Chasing a victory target of 162, Deccan Chargers were cruising towards victory, as they were 88/1 in 10 overs. However, some disciplined and clever bowling changes for Sourav Ganguly did the trick for KKR.

Decca Chargers finally finished at 150/7 and lost the match by 11 runs. Gilchrist was the top scorer with 54 off 35 balls. Laxman made 22 off 14 balls. For KKR, Charl Langeveldt took 2 wickets.

Earlier, Deccan Chargers won the toss and elected to field. Despite losing 4 wickets for 31, Kolkata Knight Riders made 161/4 in 20 overs. Owais Shah remained unbeaten on 58, while Angelo Mathews remained not out on 65. Vaas took 2wickets for the Chargers.