Cuttack: Skipper Gautam Gambhir again led by example with a match-winning half-century as Kolkata Knight Riders remained in contention for play-off berth with a comprehensive nine-wicket win over table toppers Kings XI Punjab in an IPL encounter, here on Sunday.
Chasing a modest target of 150 on a featherbed, Gambhir anchored the chase to perfection with a well-crafted unbeaten 65 after Robin Uthappa provided the momentum with a 28-ball-46. Such was their domination that the match ended with two overs to spare. Credit should also be given to leg-spinner Piyush Chawla (3/19) for his brilliant bowling in the middle overs after Virender Sehwag had set the tone for Punjab with a 50-ball-72. KKR now have eight points and remain in the mix while KXIP got a timely wake-up call ahead of their bigger battles in the knock-out stages of the competition.
It's been a roller coaster ride for Gambhir who started the tournament with a hat-trick of ducks and now has completed a hat-trick of half-centuries. He now has 23 half-centuries across seven IPL editions — maximum by any player till date. He changed his approach letting Uthappa dominate in the beginning and played himself in before going for the attack. Gambhir faced 45 balls hitting seven fours and more importantly finished off the match staying at the crease right till the end.
Scoreboard
Kings XI Punjab: V. Sehwag b Chawla 72, Mandeep Singh c Uthappa b Morkel 0, W. Saha b Morkel 15, G. Maxwell c Morkel b Chawla 14, D. Miller b UT Yadav 13, G. Bailey (not out) 12, R. Dhawan b Chawla 4, M. Johnson st Uthappa b Narine 14, A. Patel run out (SA Yadav/Uthappa) 1. Extras (b 1, lb 1, w 2) 4. Total (for eight wickets in 20 overs) 149.
FoW: 1-17, 2-48, 3-87, 4-112, 5-120, 6-127, 7-148, 8-149.
Kallis 3-0-38-0, Morkel 4-0-20-2, Yadav 4-0-34-1, Narine 4-0-30-1, Chawla 4-0-19-3, Doeschate 1-0-6-0.
Kolkata Knight Riders: R. Uthappa c Patel b Awana 46, G. Gambhir (not out) 63, M. Pandey (not out) 36. Extras (lb 2, w 3) 5. Total (for one wicket in 18 overs) 150.
FoW: Sandeep 4-0-32-0, Johnson 3-0-33-0, Patel 4-0-20-0, Awana 2-0-20-1, Dhawan 4-0-32-0, Maxwell 1-0-11-0.
MoM: Gautam Gambhir
