IPL: Knight Riders march towards last four with win over Kings XI
KINGS XI PUNJAB 119/6 20 overs KOLKATA http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Knight-c71599 RIDERS 120/2 17.2 overs
Hosts, Kolkata, gave their home crowd and their Bollywood icon owner, Shahrukh http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Khan-c71319, more reasons to celebrate, as they carved out another impressive win in the Indian Premier League 2011.
The perennial underperformers of the tournament have finally come of age and look to be a real threat to the rest of the teams, as they move a step closer to the last four stage of the cash rich league.
On a sluggish wicket, the Knight Riders came out trumps against Kings XI Punjab, who have struggled to make an impact, in the event thus far.
Batting first, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Punjab-c833 stuttered to a lowly total of 119/6 in their allocation of 20 overs. The hosts reigned supreme from the outset, as the bowlers choked the star studded batting line up to a below par total.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Paul-Valthaty-c2170, who has been one of the star performers in the tournament to date failed to do much today. He was sent packing by Yusuf Pathan early on in the piece.
Skipper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Dinesh-c54134 Karthik, failed to score at a fast pace. The Indian discard scored a run a
ball 42, studded with 4 fours, despite his effort, Punjab ended their innings on a disappointing note.
For the Knight Riders, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Iqbal-Abdulla-c1596 took 2 wickets, while the rest of the bowlers returned with tidy figures.
The hosts started their chase positively. They were in an aggressive mood from the outset despite losing Jacques Kallis for 1 run. Eoin Morgan, and, captain, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gautam-Gambhir-c58623, stabilised the innings with a 30-run partnership. Morgan fell after a stroke filled
28.
His loss did little to halt Kolkata’s assault. Gambhir and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Manoj-Tiwary-c1890 were in cruise control in their partnership, which carried their team home, with more than 2 overs to spare.
Gambhir remained undefeated on 45, while Tiwary scored 34 off 41 balls. Bhargav Bhatt claimed both wickets. Iqbal Abdulla was named man of the match.
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