Kings XIP defeat wasteful Kolkata

The Kings XI Punjab added another nail to the Kolkata Knight Riders' title defence, managing to defend a middling score despite a half century from Gautam Gambhir and a hat-trick by Sunil Narine.
The Kings XI Punjab added another nail to the Kolkata Knight Riders' title defence, managing to defend a middling score despite a half century from Gautam Gambhir and a hat-trick by Sunil Narine.
Adam Gilchrist's side recorded their third win out of five after scoring 157 for nine, thanks to a brisk death-overs cameo by Manpreet Gony. The Punjab bowlers did a superb job of defending their score, sharing the wickets between them as Kolkata reached 153 for nine.
The KXIP innings wasn't a sterling effort by any means, the highlight being the first hat-trick of the tournament for West Indies spinner Narine. He got rid of David Hussey Azhar Mahmood and Gurkeerat Singh in the 15th over, with the score on 99.
At that point, it looked like the score would fall well short of defendable, but Gony came in and blasted 23 runs off Narine's next over. scoring 42 off 18 balls before being bowled by Jacques Kallis, who took three wickets.
Kolkata's knock got off to a dire start when they lost Manvinder Bisla off the first ball, caught off Praveen Kumar behind the stumps. Kallis then departed with the score on two, leaving Gambhir and Eoin Morgan to rescue the knock.
The international pair went at a cracking pace and all looked well for the defending champs, and they put on a partnership of 104 runs. Gambhir then departed with his score on 60, and Morgan went 10 runs later for 47, and it all fell apart from there.
The middle and lower order were beyond useless, and though they managed to push the excitement to the final ball, where they needed five to win, Kumar kept his head and prevented a shot, leaving KKR near the bottom of the table.
Kings XI Punjab: A Gilchrist, Mandeep Singh, D Hussey, D Miller, Azhar Mahmood, M Vohra, Gurkeerat Singh, P Chawla, P Kumar, M Gony, P Awana
Kolkata Knight Riders: M Bisla, G Gambhir, J Kallis, Y Pathan, M Tiwary, E Morgan, R Bhatia, D Das, S Senanayake, S Narine, L Balaji
Latest
-
News
Superb James Vince ton leads Hampshire to shock win over Somerset
Sussex’s five-match losing streak came to an end with a 17-run win over Surrey.
-
News
Adil Rashid to miss England’s India white-ball series to make Mecca pilgrimage
Rashid has found it difficult to make the pilgrimage due to timings and commitments.
-
News
Jack Leach pleased with good luck but admits freak dismissal no collector’s item
New Zealand closed the opening day of the final Test against England on 225 for five after Henry Nicholls was dismissed in bizarre fashion.
-
News
Stuart Broad stars on day one for England but error of judgement proves costly
Broad kept a week of celebrations going strong by striking before a run had been added and followed with the key scalp of Kane Williamson.
-
News
Matthew Mott expects England whitewash to ‘light fire’ under captain Eoin Morgan
Mott made an ideal start in his new role with a 3-0 one-day clean sweep of the Netherlands.
-
England
Stuart Broad double and freak dismissal helps put England on top at Headingley
New Zealand were 123 for five at tea on day one.
-
England
Lord Patel targeted by abusive letters in wake of Yorkshire racism scandal
Test cricket returned to Headingley on Thursday.
-
England
Stuart Broad leads England’s charge on first morning at Headingley
England responded brilliantly after losing the toss to leave the tourists uncomfortably set on 65 for three.
-
England
On this day in 2013: England suffer Champions Trophy final defeat to India
England suffered a huge batting collapse in the rain-affected one-day game.
-
Caribbean Premier League
The 6ixty – Chris Gayle ambassador for new white-ball format in the Caribbean
The tournament has branded itself as “Cricket’s Power Game”.