Kolkata Knight Riders beat Kings XI Punjab by 39 runs

MOHALI: After a few stutters, the Sourav Ganguly-led Kolkata Knight Riders put their IPL campaign back on track with a convincing 39-run victory over Kings XI Punjab here on Saturday.

Both sides, languishing at the bottom of the table, were desperate for victory but it was the Knights who pulled it off comfortably in the end, first putting up a challenging 183/5 on the board and then successfully stifling the Kings strokeplayers.

Yuvraj Singh, Manvinder Bisla and Kumar Sangakkara all got starts but against a disciplined KKR attack, the Kings innings failed to gather any momentum and they finished at 144/6. It’s a huge blow for the Punjab team, which is struggling for form this season.

KKR, meanwhile, will take heart from the manner in which their bowlers and batsmen rose to the task. Apart from a disciplined performance from Shane Bond and the seamers, their star of the day was Manoj Tiwary, whose whirlwhind 75 off just 47 balls put KKR in a strong position.

Tiwary also hit 21 runs with the help of two sixes and two fours off Irfan Pathan’s last over to perk up the KKR total.

Skipper Sourav Ganguly (50; 40b, 6x4, 1x6) too chipped in as the duo added 50 runs in 42 balls for the third-wicket partnership after two early dismissals. Both found it difficult to get going initially but as it turned out, it was enough to get KKR past the Kings.

With runs not coming at the desired pace, Ganguly tried to accelerate the run rate but after his dismissal, Tiwary upped the ante and the last two overs fetched 30 runs for the visitors.

Chris Gayle (14; 12b, 3x4) gave a rollicking start to KKR as he hit 15 runs off Brett Lee in the very first over. For Punjab, Brett Lee and Vijayant Malik, the two new faces, could not dent the opposition as both of them went wicketless. Sailabh Srivastava, along with Irfan Pathan, scalped two wickets each.

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.