Gambhir Eyes Second Spot in IPL Table

Relieved to secure a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Pune Warriors, Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir on Thursday said his team would aim to win their next match and finish atleast in the second spot in the IPL points table.
Gambhir admitted he was nervous before their match against Pune and attributed their comfortable victory to the all-round display of his side.
"Very important two points today. It was a very important game and I was nervous, we had everything to lose today. We needed to be professional. We had come so close we couldn't afford to let it slip from here," he said.
"We needed to be up there, up the energy and if I am asking so much from the team I needed to have that first so I wanted to lead from the front and bring that intensity in the field.
"Credit goes to the entire team. We were never too keen on batting in a hurry for the Net run rate. It wasn't that kind of pitch," he added.
Asked about their next match against Mumbai Indians, Gambhir said, "We want to go out there and look to win the next game as they we would have a very bright chance of moving into the second spot in the table, so that's what we will focus on."
"Jacques' been doing a great job, his injury gave me an opportunity to open today. I want to give credit to the entire bunch of bowlers, everyone bowled well," he added.
Man of the Match, Yusuf Pathan, who scored 29 runs and scalped two wickets, said he was relaxed before the match.
"No tension ahead of the game. Gauti (Gautam) utilised me very well with the ball, I could get wickets and keep the runs down," he said.
Pune Warriors skipper Yuvraj said toss played a crucial factor and reckoned 140 would have been a good score in this pitch which turned a lot in the beginning.
"135-140 would have been a good score. Toss would have been vital, it turned a lot earlier in the first innings and not much in the second half. But credit goes to KKR they bowled according to a plan. we lost too many wickets in between," he said.
Yuvraj said he was giving the youngsters chance to bat up the order so that he can handle the pressure down the line.
"I am happy to allow youngsters bat ahead of me up the order. I have batted for India in tough situation and can handle the pressure," he said.
The left-hander said things didn't work out for his team once again and it was disappointing.
"It is difficult when you are out of reckoning and you have to play for your pride. Today again things didn't work for us, shots were going to fielders," he added.

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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)

Knight Riders Beat Deccan Chargers by 20 runs

What ails Deccan Chargers at home? No one seems to have the answer to this billion-dollar question. Not even our very own batting legend Sunil Gavaskar.
"One fails to understand why the Chargers are not able to win at home. They have a good side and play on one of the best wickets in the country. It is inexplicable," said Sunny an hour before the start of the game. "They have a very good bowling attack but somehow they have not been able to put enough runs on the board."
For the record, the Chargers crashed to their 13th loss out of 14 matches (four out of five this season) played at home with a 20-run loss to Kolkata Knight Riders here on Tuesday.
Chasing 170 for their second win at home, the Chargers got off to a fairly bright start with openers Sunny Sohal and Shikhar Dhawan adding 41 for the first wicket in 5.3 overs.
But a double strike in the sixth over by left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla left the Chargers groping in the dark.
Dhawan and Ravi Teja then entertained the crowds with a 56-run partnership for the fifth wicket but it didn't make any difference to the result.
Earlier, Knight Riders made 169 for 4 for four after being asked to bat first, with Yusuf Pathan riding his luck.
The start of Kolkata's innings was a dawdle by comparison, in spite of Eoin Morgan's innate energy at the crease. He nearly ran himself out first ball, and charged out to the third and dumped Christian over long-on for a six. Thereafter Jacques Kallis settled into accumulation mode. He checked in with a typically pristine set of boundaries, charming Steyn through the covers, before redirecting short balls from Ishant on either side of the wicket for fours.
Gambhir took charge after Christian foxed Morgan with a slow offcutter. Gambhir lofted his first ball emphatically over the covers for four, before slashing Ojha through point. His joust with Christian was the most captivating mini-battle of the session, and included a heaved pull for six, a drop, a collision and a heated exchange of words.
Kolkata progressed to 73 in the first ten overs, and Deccan were in need of some inspiration. The spinners produced just that, with Mishra foxing Kallis in the flight and Ojha hoodwinking Gambhir, but the fielding was about to let them down big-time. Yusuf exacted full toll, and ensured it was another forgettable night for the Hyderabad supporters who have witnessed only one home win in three-and-a-half seasons.

Brief scores
Kolkata Knight Riders 169 for 4 (Yusuf 47*, Gambhir 35, Tiwary 33)
Deccan Chargers 149 for 6 (Dhawan 54, Bhatia 2-26)
Results Kolkata Knight Riders won by 20 runs
MOM Yusuf Pathan (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)

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

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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