26 May, 2008
Knight Riders riding high

Sourav Ganguly's Kolkata Knight Riders finally gave their home fans something to cheer about by ending their Indian Premier League campaign with a thrilling three-wicket win over semi-finalists Kings XI Punjab.

With the visitors having already clinched a semis berth and the hosts out of contention, there was little resting on the match for either side.

Punjab will nevertheless have fancied its chances of victory after posting 6-174 - until then the highest IPL total at Eden Gardens - from its 20 overs.

But the Knight Riders - inspired by a brilliant unbeaten knock of 86 from 53 balls by captain Ganguly - had other ideas and stormed back to pick up their sixth win of the tournament in their 14th and final match.

Kings XI captain Yuvraj Singh won the toss and opted to bat first, with Kumar Sangakkara and Shaun Marsh leading the way for the visitors with scores of 64 and 40 respectively and Yuvraj himself contributing 27 before being run out.

James Hopes was dropped on 10 by Umar Gul at third man off the bowling of Ishant Sharma but the error did not prove costly as Gul made amends shortly afterwards to trap the opener leg before wicket for 13.

Marsh and Sangakkara shared an 83-run partnership for the second wicket which came to an end when the former smashed IPL debutant Ajantha Mendis to Aakash Chopra at long-off.

Sangakkara's fourth IPL half-century came off 37 balls before he fell lbw to man-of-the-match Gul playing across the line.

Yuvraj was put down on eight - again off Ishant - by India colleague Ganguly at deep mid-wicket after a collision with Chopra. He went on to make a typically breezy 27 from 18 balls but was run out in the 19th over by Wriddhiman Saha.

Irfan Pathan (seven) and Piyush Chawla (nought) perished to successive Gul deliveries in the final over as the Kings XI finished on 174 from their 20 overs.

The home team - Ganguly apart - struggled to stick around for long but Salman Butt, Gul (both 24), Saha (13) and David Hussey (12) at least reached double figures while the skipper prospered at the other end.

Despite having Kolkata reeling on 6-106 midway through the 16th over, however, Punjab was unable to finish the job off and was made to pay with Ganguly carrying his bat in style.

The opener's six with the third ball of the final over brought the hosts level and he sealed matters with the next delivery to see his team home with two balls to spare.




26 May, 2008
Chargers finish bottom

The Deccan Chargers were guaranteed last place in the inaugural IPL competition on Sunday after the Bangalore Royal Challengers chased down a victory target of 166.

Deccan's 165 all out was built on the foundation of a 101-run opening partnership between Adam Gilchrist (46) and Herschelle Gibbs (47).

But once the international duo departed, the home side struggled with only Rohit Sharma and Venugopal Rao reaching double figures.

Bangalore replied with a well-balanced scorecard - four players making over 30 - as it cruised to a five-wicket win with six balls remaining.

Rock-bottom Deccan started the day two points behind its opponent and seemingly intent on eradicating that gap.

Gilchrist and Gibbs looked in complete command against the Bangalore attack with Indian Test captain Anil Kumble coming in for some particularly rough treatment.

But just two balls after reaching a 100-run partnership, Gibbs perished when he charged down the track to Kumble, missed and saw his stumps shattered by wicketkeeper Shreevats Goswami.

The hosts needed captain Gilchrist to hang around but the Australian went with only eight runs added to the total, caught at long-off by Balachandra Akhil off the bowling of Vinay Kumar.

Rohit made a quickfire 17 and Rao a 12-ball 26 but the rest of the Deccan order failed to fire with man of the match Kumar the pick of the Bangalore attack with 3-27.

The early loss of Wasim Jaffer offered Deccan hope but Jacques Kallis (31), Misbah-ul-Haq (34) and Rahul Dravid (31) kept the scoreboard ticking over.

Cameron White and Akhil saw the visitors home with an unbroken partnership of 30. White ended on 31 not out while Akhil remained unbeaten on 27.

The victory takes seventh-placed Bangalore on to eight points from its 13 matches, while Deccan remains on four.