Ganguly special floors Chargers

Kolkata Knight Riders skipper blasts 54-ball 88 to guide his team to 24-run win

Ganguly blasted nine fours and five sixes and added 78 runs for the fourth wicket with David Hussey to take the Kolkata Knight Riders to a competitive 181 for six at the Eden Gardens here. The home team then returned to restrict the defending champions to 157 for five to zoom to the fifth place, just behind Rajasthan Royals with eight points from eight matches in the points table.

Barring offie Mohnish Parmar, the KKR bowlers put up a disciplined performance with Shane Bond, Angelo Matthews, Murali Kartik, Ajit Agarkar and Chris Gayle taking one wicket each to contribute to their team’s win.

Chasing the tall target of 182, opener Herschelle Gibbs hit 50 from 45 balls to put up a solid platform for the run chase before Shane Bond evicted the South African to script the turn around.

Andrew Symonds hit a 37 ball 45 but 34 runs from the last over proved to be a bit too much for the Chargers who had lost their opening match to the Knights earlier.

Opting to bat, Ganguly set his home ground on fire with his fireworks. The ace southpaw stood tall among the ruins of Chris Gayle (4), Cheteshwar Pujara (17) and Manoj Tiwary (5).

David Hussey gave a fine support to Ganguly at the other end with a 27-ball 31 that included one four and two sixes.

Deccan Chargers’ strike bowler Kemar Roach was ripped apart by the Knights as the West Indian conceded 48 runs from his quota of four overs. The Hyderabad team skipper, Adam Gilchrist, too had a poor day behind the stumps, missing a couple of stumpings — when Ganguly was on 67 and when Hussey was on 19. Jaskiran Singh, Andrew Symonds and Pragyan Ojha claimed two wickets apiece for the chargers.

Deccan began well with Herschelle Gibbs plundering three boundaries in Parmar’s over. A miss run-out chance of Gibbs in the second over did not help the cause as Deccan had a flying start with 23 runs in two overs.

But KKR got a breakthrough dismissing the dangerman Adam Gilchrist (9) even as Gibbs stayed on at the other end and continued his assault to keep the target within reach.
Missed by Mathews from his own bowling on 35, the South African grew in stature and went on to complete his fifty. Chargers were cruising along with 121 for two when Bond gave the most crucial breakthrough, dismissing Gibbs immediately after reaching his half-century.

Soon the Chargers slipped to 125 for four with Rohit Sharma (2) being bowled by Murali Kartik as the asking run-rate crept above 14 mark before KKR completed the formality.
Earlier, Ganguly began positively with a couple of fours in the first over even as his opening partner Gayle lasted just seven balls before being dismissed in the third over.
Ganguly hit the left-arm spinner for three sixes. In pursuit of a fourth one, he was caught by Rohit Sharma near the deep midwicket boundary.

After Ganguly’s dismissal, Angelo Mathews (4) and Hussey took KKR past the 150-mark before falling in quick succession to Jaskiran Singh in the 19th over.
But Wriddhiman Saha (10 from four balls) and Ajit Agarkar (8 from 5 balls) added 18 runs in last nine balls for setting a stiff target.

SCOREBOARD

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS: Sourav Ganguly c Sharma b Ojha 88, Chris Gayle c Roach b Symonds 4, Cheteshwar Pujara c Ojha b Symonds 17, Manoj Tiwary b Ojha 5, David Hussey c Gibbs b Jaskaran 31, Angelo Mathews c Gibbs b Jaskaran 4, Wriddhiman Saha (not out) 10, Ajit Agarkar (not out) 8. Extras (LB-4, W-9, NB-1) 14. Total (for 6 wkts, 20 overs) 181.

Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-46, 3-68, 4-146, 5-159, 6-163.

Bowling: Roach 4-0-48-0, Jaskaran 3-0-18-2, Symonds 4-0-26-2, Harmeet Singh 2-0-21-0, Sharma 2-0-16-0, Ojha 4-0-38-2, Rao 1-0-10-0.

DECCAN CHARGERS: Herschelle Gibbs c Hussey b Bond 50, Adam Gilchrist c Pujara b Agarkar 9, Mohnish Mishra c Tiwary b Mathews 29, Andrew Symonds c Kartik b Gayle 45, Rohit Sharma b Kartik 2, T Suman (not out) 15, Y Venugopal Rao (not out) 0. Extras (LB-2, W-5) 7. Total (for 5 wickets, 20 overs) 157.

Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-77, 3-121, 4-125, 5-151.

Bowling: Parmar 3-0-33-0, Bond 4-0-28-1, Agarkar 4-0-31-1, Kartik 4-0-29-1, Mathews 4-0-25-1, Gayle 1-0-9-1.