Kolkata Favourites Against Pune

On a high after back-to-back wins, Kolkata Knight Riders will start favourites against the struggling Pune Warriors India when the two bottom-half teams clash on Wednesday.
Having achieved back-to-back wins, the Gautam Gambhir-led KKR may have to again depend on off-spinner Sunil Narine and experienced all-rounder Jacques Kallis against Pune, a team they beat only last week.
Both played pivotal roles in their win against Royal Challengers Bangalore in KKR's previous match.
Kallis, who had an excellent outing with both bat and ball against RCB, had said on Sunday that winning would motivate KKR to strive for what seems like an unlikely playoff berth.
Pune, on the other hand, would strive to sign off their campaign on a winning note to make up a bit for their 12 losses and a bottom finish.
PWI would have to largely depend on Yuvraj Singh, but he would have to adapt well to the pitch which did not encourage big hitting during the KKR-RCB tie.

Teams from:

Pune Warriors: Aaron Finch (captain), Angelo Mathews, Yuvraj Singh, Abhishek Nayar, Ajanta Mendis, Ali Murtaza, Anustup Mazumdar, Ashok Dinda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Dheeraj Jadhav, Eklavya Dwivedi, Harpreet Singh, Ishwar Pandey, Kane Richardson, Krishnakant Upadhyay, Luke Wright, Mahesh Rawat, Manish Pandey, Marlon Samuels, Mitchell Marsh, Mithun Manhas, Parveez Rasool, Rahul Sharma, R Gomez, Robin Uthappa (wk), Shrikant Wagh, T Suman, Tamim Iqbal, Udit Birla and Wayne Parnell.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Manvinder Bisla (wk), Yusuf Pathan, Jacques Kallis, Rajat Bhatia, Laxmipathy Balaji, Sarabjit Ladda, Brad Haddin (wk), Debabrata Das (wk), Iqbal Abdulla, Brett Lee, Ryan McLaren, Eoin Morgan, Sunil Narine, Sumit Narwal, Suchitra Senanayake, Pradeep Sangwan, Shami Ahmed, Shakib Al Hasan, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Ryan ten Doeschate, Manoj Tiwary and James Pattinson.

Match facts
Wednesday May 15, 2013 (day/night)
Start time 16:00 local (1030 GMT)

Pathan, Kallis Lead Kolkata in Easy Win

Chasing 133-run target, Yusuf Pathan (49*) and Jacques Kallis (33*) batted well as Kolkata defeated Rajasthan by 8 wickets with 2.4 overs to spare against Rajasthan Royals at the Eden Gardens on Friday.
Yusuf Pathan remains stranded on 49, Kallis hits winning boundary. KKR have won their fourth this season and have barely kept themselves alive, while Rajasthan now continue to have 12 points from their 10 games.
Knight Riders lost Manvinder Bisla (29) and skipper Gautam Gambhir (12) in quick succession after a solid start against Royals.
The openers added 41 runs before Shane Watson dismissed Gambhir in the sixth over to give Royals a crucial breakthrough and reduce Kolkata to 41/1 in 5.3 overs.
Bisla followed his skipper soon in the eighth over by giving a simple catch to Ajinkya Rahane off Ankit Chavan. Bisla hit a six and four boundaries in his 25-ball innings.
Asked to field, discipline Knight Riders bowlers took wickets at regular intervals to restrict Rajasthan to 132 for 6.
Royals batsmen failed to put on any substantial partnerships during their innings after losing two early wickets and set a modest 133-run target.
Sachithra Senanayake was the pick of Kolkata bowlers, taking two Royals wickets for 26 runs in his four overs. Rajat Bhatia (1-21), Sunil Narine (1-20), Iqbal Abdulla (1-22) and Jacques Kallis (1-25) also picked up a wicket apiece.
Young Sanju Samson was the top-scorer for the visitors with 36-ball 40 as he hit two maximums and a four in his innings. Shane Watson (35) and Owais Shah (24) also contributed handsomely in their team's effort.
Earlier, Rajasthan Royals skipper Rahul Dravid won the toss and decided to bat against Kolkata Knight Riders in the defending champions' last league fixture at the Eden.
Rajasthan have made three changes in their team from the last game citing the slow and low wicket at the Eden. Brad Hogg replaced Brad Hodge, Ankit Chavan came in for Ajit Chandila and Dishant Yagnik included in Sreesanth's place.
Hosts KKR have included Sachithra Senanayake and left out Brett Lee for this game, whereas, spinner Iqbal Abdulla replaced pacer L Balaji.

Teams:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (Capt.), Manvinder Bisla (wk), Yusuf Pathan, Jacques Kallis, Eoin Morgan, Debabrata Das, Rajat Bhatia, Sumit Narwal, Sunil Narine, Iqbal Abdulla, Sachithra Senanayake.

Rajasthan Royals: Rahul Dravid (Capt.), Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, Shane Watson, Stuart Binny, Owais Shah, James Faulkner, Siddharth Trivedi, Brad Hogg, Ankit Chavan, Dishant Yagnik (wk). 

Brief scores
Rajasthan Royals 132/6 (Samson 40, Watson 35, Senanayake 2-26)
Kolkata Knight Riders 133/2 (Pathan 49*, Kallis 33*)
Result Kolkata Knight Riders won by 8 wickets 
Points Kolkata Knight Riders 2, Rajasthan Royals 0
MOM Yusuf Pathan (Kolkata Knight Riders)

Kolkata to Clash with Struggling Punjab

Having slumped to two successive defeats, Kings XI Punjab will be hoping to revive their fortune when they take on defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders in the Pepsi IPL 6 match on Tuesday.

Lacklustre KXIP would be looking to exploit the home conditions against a strong Kolkata outfit, who got back to winning ways, outplaying Sunrisers Hyderabad by 48 runs on Sunday at their home ground.
Kings XI had began their campaign on a winning note against Pune Warriors but had failed to sustain the momentum against Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals.
In fact, in their match against Rajasthan last night, they were handed a royal thrashing with the opposition running away with a comfortable six-wicket win.
The biggest problem for the Adam Gilchrist-led side is that it had failed to utilise its full 20 overs in the last two games.
The team folded in the 20th over against CSK, whereas it lost the plot in the 19th over against formidable the Royals.
For Kings XI to make a contest against KKR, who start as clear favourites at the PCA Stadium on Tuesday, they would need the likes of Gilchrist, David Hussey, Mandeep Singh, Gurkeerat Singh, R Sathish to fire in unison.
David Hussey has been the lone bright spot in KXIP's batting line up and they would expect him to continue his good show.
On the other hand, the Knight Riders are well aware that against a weak opposition they stand a good chance to improve their tally at the league stage and hence, they would everything to go for that kill.
KKR would look to repeat their power-packed batting performance of last night against Hyderabad.
It was a team effort and nothing less than that would satisfy the Knight Riders on Tuesday as well.

Teams from

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Manvinder Bisla (wk), Jacques Kalis, Yusuf Pathan, Manoj Tiwary, Eoin Morgan, Rajat Bhatia, Ryan McLaren, Pradeep Sangwan, Sunil Narine, Laxmipathy Balaji, Brendon McCullum (wk), Brad Haddin (wk), Ryan ten Doeschate, Sachithra Senanayake, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Sarabjit Ladda, Debabrata Das, Iqbal Abdulla, Mohammad Shami Ahmed.

Kings XI Punjab: Adam Gilchrist (captain & wk), Azhar Mahmood, Luke Pomersbach, David Hussey, David Miller, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Manpreet Gony, Nitin Saini, Parvinder Awana, Paul Valthaty, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar, Rajagopal Sathish, Ryan Harris, Bhargav Bhatt, Bipul Sharma, Gurkeerat Mann Singh, Harmeet Singh Bansal, Manan Vohra, Aniket Choudhary, Mandeep Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Siddharth Chitnis, Sunny Singh.

Match facts
Tuesday April 16, 2013 (day/night)
Start time 16:00 local (10:30 GMT)

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Kolkata Take on Delhi in IPL 6 Opener

Eyeing a repeat of their success last season, Kolkata Knight Riders will open their title defence with a clash against a depleted Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League on Wednesday.
Expectations will be high from the home side as they would aim to become only second team to win back-to-back titles. Only Chennai Super Kings have won consecutive trophies (2010 and 2011).
For Delhi, who are yet to win the title, it would be a season to make amends as they look at life without English swashbuckler Kevin Pietersen who has been ruled out for the entire tournament due to a knee injury.
Delhi will also miss out on explosive Kiwi batsman Jesse Ryder who was to begin his $300,000 contract before a brutal assault in a Christchurch bar left him hospitalised.
Last season's Purple cap holder, Morne Morkel (25 wickets), who bowled Titans to a semis place in the Ram Slam T20 Challenge in the South Africa domestic cricket, will also miss out on the opener.
And if that was not enough, Virender Sehwag is also a doubtful starter for the tournament-opener as he is down with back spams.
Having recovered from jaundice, KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir will be eager to start on a winning note under conditions best suited to them.
Among the foreign recruits, KKR will miss Brendon McCullum, who is down with a hamstring problem, while the recently-married Shakib Al Hasan is yet to report to the side.
West Indian mystery spinner Sunil Narine, the second leading wicket-taker behind Morkel with 24 scalps, was instrumental in KKR's success last season.
KKR will now hope to unleash another 'mystery' spinner in Lankan offie Sachitra Senanayake in the upcoming season.
Jacques Kallis will lend experience to the middle order, while the home grown players of Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Manoj Tiwary, Manvinder Bisla and Debabrata Das would also come in handy.
Laxmipathy Balaji, who was most economical last season, will add variety to the attack along with the part-timers in Rajat Bhatia and Shukla.
Besides Narine and Senanayake, the team also has Indian left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla, who though would face competition for a place in the XI.
If the absence of the big names was not enough, the Daredevils would have to deal with the poor form of David Warner and Virender Sehwag as both of them would look to get into their rhythms.
West Indian big hitter Andre Russell will look to play the role of a finisher. Till Morkel joins the side, the pressure would be on the Indian trio of Ashish Nehra, Umesh Yadav and Irfan Pathan.

Teams from

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Brad Haddin (wk), Brett Lee, Debabrata Das, Eoin Morgan, Yusuf Pathan, Iqbal Abdulla, Jacques Kallis, James Pattinson, Laxmipathy Balaji, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Manoj Tiwary, Manvinder Bisla (wk), Shami Ahmed, Pradeep Sangwan, Rajat Bhatia, Ryan McLaren, Ryan ten Doeschate, Sachitra Senanayake, Sarabjit Ladda, Sunil Narine

Delhi Daredevils: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Virender Sehwag, Andre Russell, Arisht Singhvi, Ashish Nehra, CM Gautam, David Warner, Unmukt Chand, Venugopal Rao, Gulam Bodi, Irfan Pathan, Yogesh Nagar, Jeevan Mendis, Johan Botha, Kedar Jadhav, Manpreet Juneja, Naman Ojha (wk), Pawan Negi, Roelof van-der Morwe, Royston Dias, Siddharth Kaul, Sujit Nayak, Shahbaz Nadeem, Umesh Yadav, Ajit Agarkar. 

Kolkata Thrash Pune by 7 Wickets, Alive Play-off Hope

Gautam Gambhir's unbeaten 46-ball 54 led Kolkata Knight Riders to an emphatic seven-wicket victory over Pune Warriors India in their IPL match at DY Patil stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.
Gambhir hit 7 fours in his unbeaten knock as Kolkata chased down the 119-run victory target in 16.4 overs to move to the third spot in the points table.
Yusuf Pathan hit a six and three fours in his 25-ball 29 before Sourav Ganguly took a good catch running backwards to dismiss him off Wayne Parnell.
Manoj Tiwary added 46 runs for the second wicket with Gautam Gambhir before edging a Bhuvaneshwar Kumar delivery onto his stumps.
Tiwary hit a six and a four in his run-a-ball 24 before his dismissal.
Gambhir and Tiwary brought up Kolkata's 50 in the seventh over after the early dismissal of Shreevats Goswami.
Alfonso Thomas struck early for Pune when he had Goswami caught behind by Robin Uthappa on the fourth ball of the Kolkata run chase.
Earlier, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan and Lakshmipathy Balaji took two wickets each as Kolkata restricted Pune to 118/7.
Balaji, who bowled only the last over of the Pune innings, clean bowled Sachin Rana by a yorker on the last ball of the hosts' innings.
Pune lost their sixth wicket when their captain Yuvraj Singh mistimed a slower ball from Balaji high up in the air for keeper Shreevats Goswami to take the catch.
Yuvraj hit 2 fours in his 26-ball 24 before falling to Balaji.
Pathan took his second wicket when he had Robin Uthappa caught by Brett Lee at deep mid-wicket.
Uthappa hit a four in his 19-ball 12 before falling to Pathan.
Shakib had Sourav Ganguly caught by Pathan at short fine-leg to reduce Pune to 71/4.
Ganguly hit a six in his 22-ball 18 before falling to Shakib.
Shakib had Callum Ferguson stumped by Shreevats Goswami to reduce Pune to 44/3.
Ferguson hit 2 fours in his 19-ball 16 before charging down the pitch to go for a big hit but missed the ball that turned away from him and Goswami uprooted the stumps in a flash.
Yusuf Pathan gave Kolkata an early breakthrough when he had Jesse Ryder caught by Manoj Tiwary at long-off in the second over of their match.
Pune lost their second wicket when Iqbal Abdulla trapped Manish Pandey plumb in front of the wicket.
The breakthroughs came after Kolkata captain Gautam Gambhir won the toss and chose to bowl.
Kolkata dropped Mark Boucher, Eoin Morgan and Jaidev Unadkat and brought in Ryan ten Doeschate, Shakib Al Hasan and Shreevats Goswami.
Pune brought in Sachin Rana and Alfonso Thomas.

Brief scores
Pune Warriors 118 for 7 (Yuvraj 24, Balaji 2-7, Shakib 2-16)
Kolkata Knight Riders 119 for 3 (Gambhir 54*)
Results Kolkata Knight Riders won by 7 wickets
MOM Yusuf Pathan (Kolkata Knight Riders)
Points Kolkata Knight Riders 2, Pune Warriors 0

Pune Warriors Look to Spoil Knight Riders Party

Already out of the IPL play-off race having suffered 8 defeats in 12 games, Pune Warriors would be looking to restore some pride and play party poopers when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday. 

While the Warriors have blown away any chance of making it to the four-team play-offs in this edition of the IPL, the Knight Riders are well poised to make it to the second phase of the tournament, having won seven out of 12 games with a total points tally of 14.
And a victory over the struggling Warriors would ease their way to advance to the play-off stage but they would certainly be aware of the pitfalls that the Pune outfit is capable of creating in their way.
A defeat for the Knight Riders would make their position shaky with Kings XI Punjab creeping up the table in grand fashion with a string of victories. Punjab have sent out strong signals to the currently placed top-four teams in the table, following their massive 111-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday.
Thursday's match to be played at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai takes on an extra edge with Sourav Ganguly playing against his old team.
The former India skipper would be eager to stamp his authority on the proceedings and send a message to the owners of the KKR, who discarded him after three years.
The Kolkata outfit has blown hot and cold this season. A string of wins has been followed by a few losses, including the one against Royal Challengers Bangalore in their previous game.
But they have had enough time to recover from that defeat and now would be anxious to hit the ground running and vanquishing the Warriors who arrested a seven-match losing sequence with a two back-to-back victories before suffering a huge defeat at home.
The Knight Riders' batting has revolved around five key players in captain Gautam Gambhir (312 runs from 12 games), leading run-scorer Jacques Kallis (358 from 12), Manoj Tiwary who has been the most consistent with a tally of four under 300 runs at a fine average of 74-plus, Yusuf Pathan and Eoin Morgan.
Kolkata's bowling has been sustained by spinners Pathan (11 wickets) and left-armer Iqbal Abdulla (14), but the biggest disappointment has been Brett Lee who has neither been incisive (4 wickets in 12 games) nor economical (236 runs conceded at over 7 per over and a none-too-impressive average of 59 per wicket).
Lee, would thus be eager to set things right on a track that has offered more bounce during the season than the one at the Knight Riders home venue, Eden Gardens.
Laxmipathy Balaji has done his bit with seven wickets under his belt but has also been expensive.
Against Pune's left-oriented top-order batting, Pathan can do the trick as he can take the ball away, which would invite Jesse Ryder, skipper Yuvraj Singh and Ganguly to play against the spin.
The Warriors batting has not lived up to expectations and has depended a lot on Ryder (291 runs from 12 games) at the top and Yuvraj (319 from 12) down the order till Ganguly's arrival late in the tournament.
Robin Uthappa (252 from 12) and Manish Pandey (230 from 8), who missed the first four matches due to a ban imposed on them by the IPL governing council, have not been very good at taking full advantage of their starts.
Uthappa said after the defeat against Deccan Chargers in the last game, the team would strive hard to win their last two games and avoid the wooden spoon in the ten-team tournament.
"Definitely we would play for pride. We would not want to be there at the bottom of the table. The season is not over yet. If we can finish on a high. We would be better off psychologically for next season," said the Karnataka batsman.
Pune's bowling has also been unimpressive so far and apart from Rahul Sharma's 16 wickets from 12 games in the tournament at an economy rate of 6, there is little the team can boost off.
Wayne Parnell and Yuvraj Singh (nine wickets from 12 games) are the other two bowlers, who have had a decent run till now but Murali Kartik (one wicket in six games) has been disappointing and thus failed to find a regular place in the playing eleven.

Teams from

Pune Warriors: Yuvraj Singh (capt), Robin Uthappa (wk), Sourav Ganguly, Murali Kartik, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Deeraj Jadhav, Eklavya Dwivedi, Ganesh Gaikwad, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Harshad Khadiwale, Kamran Khan, Mithun Manhas, Mohnish Mishra, Rahul Sharma, Sachin Rana, Shrikant Wagh, Shrikant Mundhe, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Jesse Ryder, Graeme Smith, Wayne Parnell, Alphonso Thomas. Tim Paine, Callum Ferguson, Mitchell Marsh, Jerome Taylor, James Faulkner.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (capt), Jacques Kallis, Eoin Morgan, Manoj Tiwary, L Balaji, Manvinder Bisla, Rajat Bhatia, Shreevats Goswami, Iqbal Abdulla, Yusuf Pathan, Sarabjit Ladda, Shkib Al Hasan, Pradeep Sangwan, Laxmi Rathan Shukla, Jaidev Unadkat, Ryan Doeschate, Brett Lee, Mark Boucher (wk), James Pattinson, Shami Ahmed.

Match facts
Thursday May 19, 2011 (day/night)
Start time 20:00 local (14:30 GMT)

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Knight Riders Beat Super Kings by 10 runs by D/L Method

 Kolkata Knight Riders moved to 14 points after they beat Chennai Super Kings by 10 runs (D/L) in the rain truncated IPL match at the Eden Gardens on Saturday.
Rain stopped the Knight Riders vs Super Kings match with Kolkata ahead by 10 runs against Chennai according to D/L method.
Chasing a modest 115-run target, Kolkata Knight Riders were 61/2 in 10 overs when rain interrupted again for the second time.
Knight Riders lost skipper Gautam Gambhir (16) and Eoin Morgan (5) early against Super Kings.
Spinner R Ashwin dismissed Gambhir in the sixth over after he struck early with his first ball to dismiss Morgan and gave Super Kings a crucial breakthrough in the second over.
Electing to bat, Subramaniam Badrinath slammed quick-fire 41-ball 54 runs after an awful start to Chennai innings and added 65-run stand with Albie Morkel (30 not out) for the fourth wicket to help Super Kings set a decent 115-run target for the hosts.
Kolkata bowlers dominated the proceedings from the word go as Chennai batsmen failed to score single boundary in the first nine overs. CSK's first boundary - a six by Badrinath - came off Yusuf Pathan in the 9.5 overs.
In-form Badrinath was on his usual self as he smashed two sixes and three fours and raced to fifty in 37 balls. Whereas, Morkel hit three boundaries in his run-a-ball knock as the South African played second fiddle in their revival act.
Badrinath finally got out on the last ball of the innings as he tried to steal a second run.
For KKR, Iqbal Abdulla (1-15), Yusuf Pathan (1-25) and L Balaji (1-33) shared a wicket each. And Brett Lee was mean as miser as the Aussie speedster conceded just eight runs in his four overs.
Earlier, Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat against Knight Riders.
The match has been delayed for more than an hour due to consistent drizzle at Eden Gardens.

Brief scores
Chennai Super Kings 114 for 4 (Badrinath 54)
Kolkata Knight Riders 61 for 2 (Ashwin 2-12)
Result: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 10 runs (D/L method)
MOM: Iqbal Abdulla (Kolkata Knight Riders)

Deccan Take on Kolkata in Crucial Match

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Their survival in the Indian Premier League at stake, former champions Deccan Chargers face an uphill battle as they take on a spirited Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday.
Deccan have played eight matches so far and managed to win only three of them. The roller-coaster campaign puts them in the lower half of the points table with six points.
Significantly, four other IPL teams also have six points and Deccan have another half a dozen matches at hand to rise in the table.
But the task is not easy as Kumar Sangakkara's men go into Tuesday's match after a 19-run loss to Chennai Super Kings last night.
The Sri Lankan was quick to highlight the need for a winning streak in the later half of the event after the crushing loss last night.
"It is pretty simple. We have six games, we have to win five of them to stay alive in this competition. It is a great challenge. We are playing well, but we have to convert that extra 10 or five per cent to try and win a game," he said.
In the slam-bang format that is Twenty20, a solid batting line-up is a must for any team and Deccan have been struggling on that front.
The likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Sunny Sohal, Bharat Chipli and Sangakkara himself have not done enough to intimidate rival bowlers. The quartet will have to rediscover its form for Deccan to have any chance of going further in the tournament.
On the bowling front, hosts would look up to Ishant Sharma, who has shown glimpses of good form after being off-colour for most part of the event, and Dale Steyn in the pace department.
Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra will be spearheading the spin attack.
On the other hand, Kolkata have 10 points and are second in the overall standings, having won five out of eight matches they have played so far.
The high-profile line-up of batsmen led by Gautam Gambhir, includes all-rounder Jacques Kallis, Yusuf Pathan and Manoj Tiwary, all of whom have been in decent touch.
The bowling too looks formidable with an in-form Brett Lee spearheading the pace attack rather well with Laxmipathy Balaji as an able support.
Coming off back-to-back wins, confidence is bound to be high in the Kolkata camp but playing at home would certainly work to Deccan's advantage in what promises to be an interesting contest.

Teams from

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (capt), Lakshmipathi Balaji, Pradeep Sangwan, SS Ladda, Brett Lee, Iqbal Abdulla, Jaidev Unadkat, James Pattinson, Shami Ahmed, Manoj Tiwary, Eoin Morgan, Rajat Bhatia, Yusuf Pathan, Jacques Kallis, Laxmirata Shukla, Shakib Al Hasan, Ryan ten Doeschate, Manvinder Bisla (wk), Mark Boucher (wk), Shreevat Goswami (wk).

Deccan Chargers: Kumar Sangakkara (capt & wk), Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Harmeet Singh, Amit Mishra, Rusty Theron, Manpreet Gony, Akash Bhandari, Dale Steyn, Shikhar Dhawan, Raviteja, Arjun Yadav, Sunny Sohal, Abhinav Kumar, Bharat Chipli, Ishank Jaggi, Jaydev Shah, Kedar Devdhar, Chris Lynn, Michael Lumb, JP Duminy, Ishak Malhotra, AA Reddy, Cameron White, Anand Rajan, Daniel Christian and Ankit Sharma.

Match facts
Tuesday May 3, 2011 (day/night)
Start time 20:00 local (14:30 GMT)

Boucher to Replace Injured Haddin for Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday named South African wicketkeeper Mark Boucher as a replacement for the injured Brad Haddin in the ongoing Indian Premier League.
Boucher, who represented Royal Challengers Bangalore earlier, will be available for the Knight Riders ahead of their clash against Deccan Chargers on May 3.
"We are fortunate to have someone like Mark Boucher as Brad's replacement. He comes with a lot of experience and a terrific track record in all forms of the game," Knight Riders CEO and MD, Venky Mysore said.
Aussie wicketkeeper Haddin's IPL campaign was cut short after a fracture was detected in his finger. An MRI in Delhi on Thursday revealed that the injury he sustained during Australia's series in Bangladesh had not healed.
He will return home and undergo a surgery. "We are very disappointed that Brad (Haddin) will be leaving the squad and will not take further part in IPL 4. In a short period, Brad had made his presence felt both on and off the field," Mysore said.
The 33-year-old Australian cricketer was unavailable for KKR's first three outings as he was busy with national duty in Bangladesh.
After joining the side, Haddin scored 18 in his only appearance for the Knight Riders in their nine-wicket loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore in Kolkata.
An injury-prone Haddin, who had missed Australia's five-match ODI series against England last year due to an elbow injury, was roped in January's auction for $325,000

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Knight Riders Crush Kings XI Punjab by 8 wickets, Go Top

Gautam Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary hit unbeaten 45 and 34 respectively as Kolkata Knight Riders inflicted a crushing eight-wicket defeat on Kings XI Punjab in their IPL match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday. 
The unbeaten 85-run stand between Gambhir and Tiwary enabled Kolkata to chase down the 120-run target in 17.2 overs.
Gambhir hit 4 fours in his 44-ball 45 and Tiwary's 41-ball 34 came with the help of a six and 3 fours.
The partnership came after Ryan Harris took a superb catch at deep mid-wicket to dismiss Kolkata opener Eoin Morgan off Bhargav Bhatt.
Morgan hit 6 fours in his 15-ball 28 before falling to Bhatt.
Bhatt struck on his first delivery when he had Jacques Kallis caught by David Hussey in the covers as Kolkata got off to a bad start in pursuit of 120 runs.
Earlier, Iqbal Abdulla took 2 wickets as Kolkata restricted Kings XI Punjab to 119/6 despite a well-made 42 from Dinesh Karthik.
Karthik hit 4 fours in his run-a-ball 42 before being run out.
Kings XI Punjab lost their fifth wicket when Abdulla trapped David Hussey plumb in front of the wicket.
Abdulla gave Kolkata the third breakthrough when he clean bowled Punjab captain Adam Gilchrist from between his legs.
Gilchrist looked to pull a short-pitched delivery but the ball neither turned nor bounced and went from between his legs to hit the stumps.
Kolkata lost their fourth wicket when Abhishek Nayar was run out.
Paul Valthaty and Shaun Marsh fell in successive overs as Kings XI Punjab got off to a bad start against Kolkata Knight Riders
Yusuf Pathan gave Kolkata the first breakthrough when he had Paul Valthaty caught by Manoj Tiwary at long-on in the fifth over.
In the next over, Marsh was run out as Punjab lost their second wicket.
This was after Kolkata captain Gautam Gambhir won the toss and chose to bowl.
Kolkata have replaced Jaidev Unadkat with Rajat Bhatia.
Punjab have brought in Bhargav Bhatt in place of Shalabh Srivastava.

Brief scores
Kings XI Punjab 119 for 6 v (Karthik 42, Abdulla 2-19)
Kolkata Knight Riders 120 for 2 (Gambhir 45*, Tiwary 34*)
Results Kolkata Knight Riders won by eight wickets
MOM Iqbal Abdulla (Kolkata Knight Riders)
Kolkata Knight Riders 2, Kings XI Punjab 0

Knight Riders Look to Maintain Momentum Against Kings XI

After returning to winning ways with a hard-fought triumph over Delhi Daredevils, the Kolkata Knight Riders will be hungry for more when they take on a formidable Kings XI Punjab at home in their Indian Premier League clash here on Saturday.
After suffering two consecutive losses, the Knight Riders came back strongly to beat Delhi Daredevils by 19 runs last night.
Be it in fielding or bowling, the Knight Riders showed intensity, something that was needed after Manoj Tiwary salvaged the batting with a fluent yet combative innings.
Often criticised for not being able to provide the finishing touches in the Knight Riders close losses, the stylish Tiwary remained unbeaten in his 61 from 47 balls with three powerful sixes.
On a day the established Jacques Kallis, Gautam Gambhir, Yusuf Pathan and Eoin Morgan aggregated just 34, it proved to be a match-winning knock for the Team India fringe batsman.
Yet, the total did not look match-winning, had it not been for the die-hard efforts by the bowlers and the fielders.
Brett Lee led the attack with amazing accuracy. An inspirational penultimate over by Lee in fact nailed the last chances of the Daredevils.
With 26 needed from last two overs and two batsmen looking to go for the kill, it could have been anybody's game in the Twenty20 scheme of things.
But, Lee conceded two runs and affected two run-outs, one of them in true slam dunk fashion for the final rites of the Delhi outfit.
Kallis failed with the bat but the 35-year-old dished out a some fighting saves on the boundary to lift the morale of the side.
The win meant that the Knight Riders are at number two -- ahead of Chennai Super Kings -- at the midway stage of the Twenty20 tournament and as Gambhir pointed out, it was morale-boosting.
It remains to be seen whether Gambhir leads the pack, often in news for all the wrong reasons, to the pinnacle.
As Knight Riders launch their mission to the next stage after completing half of their league phase, it is all about maintaining the momentum from hereafter.
With three more home matches lined up -- Kings XI Punjab, Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians -- it is crucial for the Knight Riders not to lose the grip of it.
At the slow Eden Gardens strip tomorrow, Gambhir will certainly give a thought about bringing in Bangladeshi skipper and left arm spinner Shakib-al-Hasan in the four-foreigner line-up.
That English southpaw Eoin Morgan is yet to hit purple patch may give Gambhir an option.
In Shakib and Iqbal Abdulla, who is doing well at the moment with a 3/25 yesterday, the Knight Riders should not worry about their bowling.
All-rounder material Laxmi Ratan Shukla cooling the benches may sound surprising and the former Bengal skipper may be considered as an option.
They may be lying low on seventh but the Kings are not in a much disadvantageous position considering that they have played only five compared to seven by the Knight Riders.
It's a situation much like that of Kolkata a couple of matches ago.
After three superb wins under their belt, Delhi outgunned Punjab in a run-fest in their previous match.
In second leading run-getter Paul Valthaty, who shot into limelight with 120 not out against Chennai, Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh, Kings XI have a threatening top-order.
With David Hussey, Dinesh Karthik to follow, Kings XI have a formidable batting line-up and they will hope that the bowlers led by Praveen Kumar and World Cup winning leg-spinner Piyush Chawla do their job meticulously.
A win will take them to the play-off zone -- the top-four of the table.
Off the field, it will also be a battle between the hit Bollywood screen couple -- Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta -- the team bosses of Knight Riders and Kings XI respectively.
In the points table, the Knight Riders have eight points, while Kings have six.

Teams from

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (capt), Jacques Kallis, Shreevats Goswami (wk), Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Eoin Morgan, Ryan ten Doeschate, Brett Lee, Laxmipathy Balaji, Iqbal Abdulla, Jaydev Unadkat, Shakib-al-Hasan, Brad Haddin (wk), James Pattinson, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Pradeep Sangwan, Shami Ahmed, Rajat Bhatia and Manvinder Bisla (wk).

Kings XI Punjab: Adam Gilchrist (capt & wk), Paul Valthaty, Shaun Marsh, Dinesh Karthik (wk), David Hussey, Abhishek Nayar, Sunny Singh, Ryan Harris, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar, Shalabh Srivastava, Ryan McLaren, Stuart Broad, Love Ablish, Amit Yadav, Bhargav Bhatt, Bipul Sharma, Siddharth Chitnis, Paras Dogra, Vikramjeet Malik, Mandeep Singh, Nitin Saini.

Match facts
Saturday April 30, 2011 (day/night)
Start time 20:00 local (14:30 GMT)

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Kolkata Knight Riders Beat Delhi Daredevils by 17 runs

It was bowlers' night out but Manoj Tiwary's day at the Ferozeshah Kotla as the Delhi Daredevils were undone by their own hand on Thursday. Languishing at the bottom of the table before the match began, the Devils chose to field on the latest local novelty - a greenish strip - and found their pacers coming to the party early against the Kolkata Knight Riders. It all seamed too good to be true as Irfan Pathan magically rediscovered his inswing and Umesh Yadav harried the batsmen with pace and bounce.
But their over-reliance on an underperforming top order and a continuing muddle with batting combinations ensured that Delhi couldn't chase down even 149, falling short by 17 runs as the match meandered into an unlikely battle of attrition instead of the frenzy of strokeplay it was supposed to be. The chase clearly centered around Sehwag and Warner and once that didn't pay off, there were no contingency plans in place. Delhi's dismal season veers from the bad to the woeful while the Knights have now shot up to second on the points table.
The result ensured sweet revenge for Delhi boy Gautam Gambhir's KKR as the goodly crowd found its affections split down the middle. Each KKR wicket was cheered, Gambhir's each move was greeted with roars and Delhi must have felt they were playing an away game. Even at the end, as one Delhi batsman after another got run out with panic setting in and Gambhir jumping in excitement, the confused cheering continued.
Ironically for Delhi, KKR's spinners Iqbal Abdullah and Yusuf Pathan played a key hand in choking the chase. Only a struggling and injured James Hopes (25 off 29 balls; 12x4, 1x6) offered brief resistance, and Yogesh Nagar and Venugopal Rao flailed wildly as the end neared, but once Brett Lee produced an exceptional run out, Venu was back in the hut and it was all over.
Sehwag's decision to bat with poise too didn't quite pay off, Jaydev Unadkat getting the prize wicket with a bouncer after Balaji had cramped Warner for room and dislodged Delhi's scary opening combine. Lee kept Warner quiet at the other end as Delhi began the chase but once Balaji started giving Sehwag room - the batsmen peppering the region between cover and point with savage drives and deft cuts - it seemed an early end was in the offing. It all unravelled fast with Sehwag's wicket.
The standout act of the day was easily KKR's Manoj Tiwary (62 not out; 47b, 2x4, 3x6), who proved his credentials on a fastish T20 track.

Brief socres
Kolkata Knight Riders 148 for 7 (Tiwary 61*)
Delhi Daredevils 131 for 9 (Abdulla 3-25)
Resutls Kolkata Knight Riders won by 17 runs
MOM Manoj Tiwary (Kolkata Knight Riders)
Points Kolkata Knight Riders 2, Delhi Daredevils 0

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Kolkata Knight Riders vs Bangalore Royal Challengers

Match scheduled to begin at 16:00 local time (10:30 GMT)

Venue : Eden Gardens, Kolkata    Umpires : SS Hazare (India) and RB Tiffin (Zimbabwe)   Third Umpire: Aleem Dar (Pakistan)   Referee : AJ Pycroft (Zimbabwe)   Reserve Umpire: S Das (India) TEAMS: Kolkata Knight Riders: S Ladda, L Balaji, R Bhatia, MS Bisla, G Gambhir (C), SP Goswami, SI Abdulla, YK Pathan,PJ Sangwan, LR Shukla, MK Tiwary, JD Unadkat, BJ Haddin (WK), B Lee, JL Pattinson, JH Kallis, EJG Morgan, RN ten Doeschate, Shakib Al Hasan, Shami Ahmed Bangalore Royal Challengers: M Kaif, Z Khan, V Kohli, A Mithun, SS Tiwary, TM Dilshan, ANPR Fernando, CA Pujara, AB de Villiers (WK), CK Langeveldt, JJ van der Wath, JD Vandiar, RR Rossouw, DP Nannes, LA Pomersbach,DL Vettori (C), KBA Karthik, RR Bhatkal, CM Gautam, R Ninan, S Aravind, MA Agarwal, BN Bharath, Abrar Kazi,AUK Pathan

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Kolkata Knight Riders Face the Kochi Tuskers

Kolkata Knight Riders, who made news for all the wrong reasons during the first three seasons of the IPL, suddenly find themselves to be the most talked-about team this time. The only team which has not featured in the last-four stage even once, is top of the 10-team heap and many are betting on them to go the distance.
If the Knights have performed consistently thus far (three wins in four matches), Kochi Tuskers Kerala - their next opponents at the Eden on Wednesday - have made everyone sit up and take notice with their giant-killing spree.
The Mahela Jayawardene-led side began their campaign with two defeats but since then, has shocked two of the strongest teams in IPL 4 — Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings — and will surely come hard at the Knight Riders.
The Knights, who play three matches back-to-back at home, began the week with a resounding win over Rajasthan Royals. Dav Whatmore's boys will now be keen to log full points against the Tuskers on Wednesday as well as Royal Challengers Bangalore (Friday) to strengthen their chances of booking a semifinal berth.
The Knights, who suffered a 2-run loss in the opener against Chennai Super Kings, quickly learnt from their mistakes and look well settled, having got their team combination right. Batting is their strength, but their bowlers also came to the party on Sunday to dismiss Shane Warne's side for a mere 81.
Despite the comfortable 8-wicket win two days ago, the team management has expressed concerns about the slow Eden track and forced the curator to shift Wednesday's match to the adjacent pitch which has a light grass cover. Clearly, KKR don't want to take a chance with the classy Jayawardene, who will fondly remember his unbeaten 110 at this venue last year which had helped his old team Kings XI Punjab chase down a daunting 200-run target.
Kochi's other opener, former Knight Brendon McCullum, will also love to make his 'homecoming' in a memorable manner. McCullum, in his new colours, has already shown what he is capable of and a strong performance by the Kiwi-Lankan duo can take the match away from KKR. Kochi's fortunes will, in fact, depend a lot on how McCullum and Jayawardene fare on Wednesday.
Kochi's bowling, though, is an area of concern, with new-ball bowlers RP Singh and R Vinay Kumar looking ordinary. Unless they pull up their socks, it will be quite a task containing the likes of the in-form Jacques Kallis, Gautam Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary.
Despite being in good form, Knight Riders will be aware of the Kochi threat as they look to hang on to pole position. The Tuskers, on the other hand, will be eager to catch up with them (on 6 points) with another prized scalp.

Kolkata's Batting Might Poses Problem for Royals

For a man who has mastered the art of winning with limited resources, the 9-wicket pounding at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium must have been hard to digest for Shane Keith Warne. Within 48 hours of that forgettable Friday, though, Warne gets the chance to set the record straight when Kolkata Knight Riders host Rajasthan Royals at Eden Gardens on Sunday.

KKR go into game four of their campaign in IPL-4 on the back of two convincing wins. But the likes of Gautam Gambhir and Jacques Kallis, chief architects of the Jaipur triumph, have played enough cricket not to take the Royals for granted and be ready for a Warne backlash.

The good thing about this restructured KKR team is that it is looking a stronger and more purposeful unit than in the first three seasons. The opening-night follies, which saw them snatch a 2-run defeat against Chennai, have been rectified and the Knights are ready for a gallop in their quest for Mission Semifinal.

Batting is their strength, and with Kallis striking the ball as well as he has ever done in a 16-year career, the team is breathing easy. And skipper Gambhir showed in Jaipur how destructive he can be if when he uses his feet discreetly.

The KKR middle-order has enough skill and firepower, although the real test for Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan and Eoin Morgan will come on a day when Kallis and Gambhir are back in the hut early.

Brett Lee and Shakib Al Hasan have added teeth to the bowling, which looked a tad bare in the first two games. Gambhir, though, will have to use Lee judiciously. The ideal scenario would be to have the seasoned Australian go flat out for a couple of overs in search of a wicket before returning at the death, or earlier, depending on the opposition's progress.

The Jaipur jolt would have taught Warne a lesson or two. The first would be to restore Shane Watson to his customary opening slot in place of Amit Pauniker. There is scope for a reshuffle in the bowling, too, with the medium-pace of Amit Singh and Siddharth Trivedi getting too predictable.

For a change, KKR will be going into a game with fewer pieces to fit into the jigsaw puzzle than their opponents.

Teams from

Kolkata Knight Riders G Gambhir (capt), S Ladda, L Balaji, R Bhatia, MS Bisla, SP Goswami, BJ Haddin (wk), Iqbal Abdulla, JH Kallis, B Lee, EJG Morgan, YK Pathan, JL Pattinson, PJ Sangwan, Shami Ahmed, Shakib Al Hasan, LR Shukla, RN ten Doeschate, MK Tiwary, JD Unadkat

Rajasthan Royals SK Warne (capt), SA Asnodkar, STR Binny, J Botha, DL Chahar, AA Chavan, A Chopra, AP Dole, ND Doshi, R Dravid, SM Fallah, FY Fazal, AL Menaria, S Narwal, JDP Oram, Pankaj Singh, AG Paunikar, AM Rahane, AS Raut, D Salunkhe, PR Shah, A Singh, SW Tait, LRPL Taylor, SK Trivedi, SR Watson, DH Yagnik

Match facts
Sunday April 17, 20111 (day/night)
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)

Rajasthan Royals v Kolkata Knight Riders Delhi

Rajasthan Royals Vs Kolkata Knight Riders

At - Kollkata

April 17 th 8:00 IST

Live Cricket Match on

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Kolkata Knight Riders thrash Rajasthan Royals by 9 wickets

Skipper Gautam Gambhir smashed his way to a blistering 44-ball 75, while Jacques Kallis struck his third consecutive fifty, as Kolkata Knight Riders drubbed Rajasthan Royals by nine wickets in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match on Friday.
Chasing 160 to register their second win of the league after electing to field, Gambhir along with Kallis (80 off 65 balls) added 152 runs for the second wicket — a league record — to overhaul the target with nine balls to spare.
Gambhir struck 11 boundaries and a six while Kallis’ knock was laced with seven hits to the fence and two over it.
Manvinder Bisla was run out early into the Kolkata innings but that was the only time Rajasthan tasted success.
Having watched Kallis hit three boundaries and a six in double quick time, Gambhir got into the act, sending Nayan Doshi high over long-on boundary for the maximum.
There was no looking back after that as the India left-hander smashed rookie Amit Singh for four boundaries in the sixth over.
There was no respite for even the great Shane Warne as Gambhir swept and employed the cut against him with ease.
The story was similar with Johan Botha. Kallis found the ropes on regular intervals to make his presence felt, but all in all, it was a Gambhir show.
The ones pitched up were driven through the packed off-side field, the ones on the pads were dealt with delicate glances and flicks, the short deliveries were pulled and the cut shots were also in view during his whirlwind knock.
Earlier, Ross Taylor played a cameo as Rajasthan finished at 159 for four.
Taylor, who smashed 35 off 25 deliveries with the help of two sixes and two fours, was well supported by Shane Watson (22 off 13). Watson’s 13-ball 22 too, featured two sixes.
Put into bat by Kolkata skipper Gautam Gambhir, Rajasthan were off to a slow start as openers Rahul Dravid and Amit Paunikar struggled to get off the blocks against an attack, bolstered by the return of Australian pace spearhead Brett Lee, at the Sawai Mansingh stadium.
Gambhir’s ploy to introduce Shakib Al Hasan early worked as the Bangladeshi left-arm spinner accounted for Paunikar who, while trying to hit against the turn, found Jacques Kallis at short third man.
A front-foot pulled four off Lakshimipathy Balaji in the day’s second over followed by another boundary against Kallis, were the only highlights of Paunikar’s brief stay at the crease.
One youngster gave way to another as Ashok Menaria joined Dravid at 26/1 in the fifth over.
Menaria’s arrival provided the much-needed impetus to Rajasthan innings as the gifted right-hander, along with his senior partner, put on 52 runs for the second wicket in exactly seven overs, till Yusuf Pathan disturbed Dravid’s stumps.
Both Dravid and Menaria played some effective shots during their association, with the later lofting Iqbal Abdullah for a six over deep midwicket.
Dravid’s departure brought to the crease the in-form Shane Watson but before he could settle down, Menaria offered a return catch to give Pathan his second wicket.
From there on, it was upto Watson and Ross Taylor to guide Rajasthan to a challenging score.
Watson, on a high after his superhuman effort of 185 against Bangladesh a few days back, signalled his intention when he slammed Shakib straight down the ground for the maximum.
Taylor followed suit as he pulled a short Balaji delivery over deep square leg to step up the tempo. Soon a full toss arrived, and it was treated with disdain as the hard-hitting New Zealander whacked it over the gap between deep square leg and deep midwicket, giving the fielders no chance.
Watson then took Shakib to the cleaners, hitting him for a six over deep midwicket for a six, before the slow left-armer had him bowled to have the last laugh.

Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders Delhi

Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders Delhi

April 15 th 4:00 PM

Live Cricket Match on

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Kolkata Knight Riders beat Deccan Chargers by 9 runs

A much-improved batting display saw the perpetual underachievers of IPL put up 163 for 4 in their 20 overs before they choked the Chargers’ chase. The visitors, losing early wickets, looked lost till some lusty hitting from Daniel Christian raised visions of victory. But they managed 154 for eight before the overs ran out.
For KKR, it was a performance that had them holding out a promise for Season 4. Jacques Kallis picked up from where he had left in the opener in Chennai to score another fifty, but it would have also pleased the Knights that everyone who came out with the bat chipped in. Kallis 53 off 45, Manvinder Bisla 19 off 21, Gautam Gambhir 29 off 18, Manoj Tiwary 30 off 21, Yusuf Pathan 22 off 15 made for an impressive collective show.
Later in the night, some good work in the field clinched it for Shah Rukh Khan’s men.
It all began with that battle within the battle that many had waited for. Kallis versus Dale Steyn, and the 25,000 on the terraces would vouch that it was unveiled even before the contest began when the South African allrounder stopped his compatriot in the middle of his run-up for the first ball of the match.
It was one sure way of earning the wrath of a pacer, and not a comfortable thought that the bowler is a 140-plus guy. But Kallis drew first blood, Steyn straying onto his pad and the first runs came from a glance to the fine-leg fence. With another boundary through covers, the opening over went for nine runs. With Manvinder Bisla edging Ishant’s first ball for a four to third-man and Kallis timing the last one through covers for another boundary, the first two overs produced 17 runs. KKR were on their way.

While Steyn and Sharma were expected to do some early damage, it was the advent of spin that saw the Chargers pull things back a bit. What Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha, coming on in quick succession, also showed was that a big chase was going to be difficult on the wicket. The ball turned appreciably and Bisla, frustrated that all the free-flowing stroke-making had come to an end, lost patience and his wicket. But the opening partnership, which also saw some fine running between the wickets, had produced 51 runs by then.
Kallis was in superb form, quickly adjusting to the changed circumstances and displaying the more delicate side to his stroke-making even as Gautam Gambhir, coming in at No.3 this night, was quickly into the groove, his comfort against spin soon coming to the fore. When Kallis fell, slog-sweeping JP Duminy to be caught at deep mid-wicket a ball after he had hoisted the spinner for a six over that region, Tiwary joined the skipper and was soon flaunting his feel for this format.
Duminy was sent soaring for two towering sixes by the Bengal skipper as the 15th over produced 15 runs. Gambhir was bowled trying to force the pace against Mishra, his dismissal almost a replay of the one in the World Cup final. But then, it was in the 17th over and there was still Yusuf Pathan in the pavilion. Pathan didn’t get to hit those customary sixes but managed four boundaries as the run-rate picked up.