IPL-4 (17th April): Kolkata coast to a thumping win over Royals

By Team Bellevision
Bellevision Media Network

Kolkata, 17 April 2011: Kolkata Knight Riders produced a clinical performance to thrash a spineless Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets in an Indian Premier League match at the Eden Gardens here on Sunday. With a vintage Laxmipathy Balaji (3/15) at display, the Knight Riders bowled out Rajasthan for a paltry 81 runs, the lowest total of the ongoing IPL.

 

Kolkata were also helped by a listless performance by Rajasthan batsmen, who played some irresponsible shots on a placid Eden pitch to be bundled out in 15.2 overs. Balaji was brilliantly backed up by Bangladesh captain Shakib-al-Hasan (2/21) and some sharp work at the field, which accounted for two run outs.

 

For Knight Riders this was their third consecutive win - back-to-back against Rajasthan - after losing the first match to Chennai Super Kings to climb up to the top of the points table. Chasing a modest 81, skipper Gautam Gambhir (35 not out, 35 balls, 3x4s) played a sensible innings while Manoj Tiwary (30 not out from 26 balls, 4x4s, 1x6) displayed aggression from the onset to help Knight Riders register the thumping win.

 

 

 

Earlier sent into bat, Rajasthan came up with a pathetic batting display to be bundled out for 81 inside the 16th over. After a shaky start, Ashok Menaria showed some promise with a quickfire 21 from 17 balls but there was no end to Rajsathan’s misery as they lost their last five wickets for just three runs within a space of 13 balls.

 

Defending the small total, there were some moments of joy for Rajasthan who gave their all on the field. Shaun Tait (1/29) started with a bang, foxing the in-form Kallis for a duck with a bouncer in the second ball of Knight Riders’ innings. In search of another breakthrough , Rajasthan captain Shane Warne then packed the slip cordon but the other opener Manvinder Bisla and Gambhir were watchful and kept the scoreboard ticking with ones and twos without taking any undue risks.

 

However, Bisla was done in by a brilliant catch by a flying Abhishek Raut off Warne at midwicket to reduce Knight Riders to 31 for two after seven overs. But Gambhir remained calm and maintained his poise, in front of the challenge put up by Warne and company. As the target neared, Tiwary clobbered Tait for one six and two fours to finish the proceedings in a hurry. Gambhir scored the winning runs with a four of Tait.

 

Earlier, Rajasthan made their intentions clear promoting in-form Shane Watson (11 off 13) up the order to open the batting with Amit Paunikar. But Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir justified his decision to bowl first as Balaji and Abdulla made early in-roads, dismissing both the openers within five overs. Just when Watson and Paunikar were beginning to look dangerous with some clean strikes off Shakib, Gambhir’s move of bringing in Balaji and Abdulla paid rich dividends.

 

 

 

Balaji went through Watson’s defence with a gem of an outswinger and in the next over, left arm spinner Abdulla disturbed Paunikar’s timber to reduce Rajasthan to 28 for two. Knight Riders’ fielding was equally sharp as they managed two quick run-outs - Faiz Fazal (3) and Abhishek Raut (11) - in a space of six balls to see Rajasthan totter at 43 for four after eight overs.

 

In Knight Riders’ second home match even though it was not a packed Eden, yet a turnout of about 50,000 ensured a vibrant atmosphere with principal owner and Bollywood heartthrob Shah Rukh Khan cheering from the corporate box. There was a brief comeback of sorts for Rajasthan with Menaria taking charge of the Knight Riders attack.

 

Just when a partnership between Menaria and Ross Taylor was developing, the latter was scalped by Yusuf Pathan to bring an end to their recovery process that yielded 24 runs. Balaji returned to haunt in the 14th over as the seamer claimed two wickets, including that of Menaria (21 off 17 balls) in the same over to reduce Rajasthan to 79 for seven.

 

Balaji castled Ajinkya Rahane (6) in the first ball of the 14th over and then Maneria became his third victim in the last delivery of the same over when the southpaw was trying to lift the pacer over third man. Then Shakib claimed two wickets off consecutive deliveries, while Lee gave the icing on the cake claiming the last wicket in the 16th over to wrap up the Rajasthan innings within the 100-run mark. From 78 for six in 13.1 overs, Rajasthan were eventually skittled out for 81 in 15.2 overs.

 

Match Summary

Indian Premier League 2011 Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals, 17th match Eden Gardens, Kolkata, April 17, 2011

Match Information Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pak) & Russell Tiffin (Zim) Third Umpire: Sanjay Hazare (Ind) Match Referee: Andy Pycroft (Zim) Toss: Kolkata Knight Riders (Elected to field) Match Status: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 8 wkts

Batting: Rajasthan Royals Innings

Batsmen Rajasthan Royals (81/10 in 15.2 ovs) Runs Balls 4’s 6’s SR Shane Watson b L Balaji 11 13 2 0 84.62 Amit Paunikar (wk) st M Bisla b I Abdulla 15 15 2 0 100.00 Faiz Fazal run out (I Abdulla) 3 4 0 0 75.00 Abhishek Raut run out (S Hasan/M Bisla) 11 15 1 0 73.33 Ashok Menaria c R Bhatia b L Balaji 21 17 1 1 123.53 Ross Taylor st M Bisla b Y Pathan 6 9 0 0 66.67 Ajinkya Rahane b L Balaji 6 9 0 0 66.67 Shane Warne (c) not out 3 6 0 0 50.00 Amit Singh b S Hasan 0 2 0 0 0.00 Shaun Tait b S Hasan 0 1 0 0 0.00 Siddharth Trivedi b B Lee 0 2 0 0 0.00 Extras: b - 0, w - 3, nb - 1, lb - 1 5   Total:(81 for 10 in 15.2 overs) 81 Run Rate: 5.28

Fall Of Wickets

1/24 (Shane Watson, 3.4 ov.), 2/28 (Amit Paunikar, 4.4 ov.), 3/38 (Faiz Fazal, 6.5 ov.), 4/43 (Abhishek Raut, 8 ov.), 5/67 (Ross Taylor, 10.5 ov.), 6/78 (Ajinkya Rahane, 13.1 ov.), 7/79 (Ashok Menaria, 13.6 ov.), 8/80 (Amit Singh, 14.4 ov.), 9/80 (Shaun Tait, 14.5 ov.), 10/81 (Siddharth Trivedi, 15.2 ov.)

Bowling: Kolkata Knight Riders

Bowler O M R W Nb Wd ER Brett Lee 2.2 0 12 1 1 0 5.1 Shakib Al Hasan 4 0 21 2 0 0 5.2 Lakshmipathy Balaji 3 0 15 3 0 0 5.0 Iqbal Abdulla 3 0 18 1 0 1 6.0 Rajat Bhatia 1 0 4 0 0 0 4.0 Yusuf Pathan 2 0 10 1 0 2 5.0

Batting: Kolkata Knight Riders Innings

Batsmen Kolkata Knight Riders (85/2 in 13.5 ovs) Runs Balls 4’s 6’s SR Jacques Kallis c R Taylor b S Tait 0 2 0 0 0.00 Manvinder Bisla (wk) c A Raut b S Warne 9 22 0 0 40.91 Gautam Gambhir (c) not out 35 35 3 0 100.00 Manoj Tiwary not out 30 26 4 1 115.38 Yusuf Pathan             Eoin Morgan             Shakib Al Hasan             Iqbal Abdulla             Lakshmipathy Balaji             Brett Lee             Rajat Bhatia             Extras: b - 0, w - 5, nb - 2, lb - 4 11   Total:(85 for 2 in 13.5 overs) 85 Run Rate: 6.14

Fall Of Wickets

1/0 (Jacques Kallis, 0.2 ov.), 2/31 (Manvinder Bisla, 6.6 ov.)

Bowling: Rajasthan Royals

Bowler O M R W Nb Wd ER Shaun Tait 3.5 0 29 1 2 3 7.6 Shane Watson 4 0 20 0 0 1 5.0 Shane Warne 4 0 17 1 0 0 4.2 Siddharth Trivedi 1 0 8 0 0 0 8.0 Amit Singh 1 0 7 0 0 0 7.0