Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers butchered Kings XI Punjab

Chris Gayle struck a brilliant 87 as Royal Challengers Bangalore comfortably beat Kings XI Punjab by five wickets in their IPL match at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium here Friday.

Chris Gayle and AB de Villliers - Snatched the match

Gayle and A.B. de Villiers (52) added 131 runs for the fifth wicket as Royal Challengers Bangalore, set a target of 164, made 166 with three balls to spare. Gayle was also adjudged as Man of the Match for his brilliant 56-ball innings that was studded with eight fours and four sixes.

With their second consecutive win, Royal Challengers Bangalore got their campaign back on track after having suffered three losses on the trot.  They move up a place to the seventh spot with six points from six matches while Kings XI slipped a spot to the eighth with four points from six matches.

Asked to bat first, Kings XI Punjab, who were without their captain Adam Gilchrist, again made a poor start but crucial innings from stand-in skipper David Hussey (41) and former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood (33 not out) helped them get a competitive score of 163 for six in 20 overs . Gilchrist missed the match nursing a hamstring injury.

Kings XI pacer Parvinder Awana (4-34) raised hopes for the hosts. He bowled a brilliant first spell in which he picked up the crucial wickets of opener Mayank Aggarwal (1), Virat Kohli (4) and Saurabh Tiwary (4) to reduce Royal Challengers to 25 for three inside six overs.

But Gayle played a patient knock and took his time to settle down before an onslaught. He took 28 balls to score 31 runs but once he took on, there was no stopping him. Gayle completely dominated the century-run stand between him and De Villiers. The duo always kept Royal Challengers along with the required run rate as the boundaries came regularly.

The match looked evenly balanced till the 17th over as Royal Challengers needed 24 runs off the last three overs. But Awana, who was the bet bowler for the Kings XI till then, bowled a pathetic 18th over that made things easy for the visitors.

Gayle smashed Awana for 17 runs in the eight-ball over before departing in the fourth ball but by then he had taken Royal Challengers to the threshold of a win. Hussey took a brilliant catch at extra cover to end Gayle's whirlwind knock.

Leggie Piyush Chawla gave Kings XI a glimmer of hope after he dismissed De Villiers, trapped leg-before in the penultimate over. The South African hit six fours in the 39-ball innings.  Andrew McDonald (8 not out) and skipper Daniel Vettori (2 not out) took the team home safely without further damage.

Earlier in the day, Kings XI again made a poor start losing openers Nitin Saini (14) and Paul Valthaty (6) inside five overs.  A 30-run stand between Australians Shaun Marsh (26) and Hussey got Kings XI innings back on track.

Mahmood, who registered himself as a British citizen, made a memorable debut in the IPL smashing 33 off 14 balls that helped Kings XI get a competitive total on board. Mahmood's arrival to India was delayed due to visa issues. The 37-year-old, who has played 21 Tests and 143 ODIs, had surprisingly applied for visa in his Pakistani passport that delayed his arrival.

KKR win easily

Riding on a disciplined bowling and fielding display, KKR first restricted Kings XI to 124 for seven after sent into bowl, and then skipper Gautam Gambhir led from the front with a fine unbeaten half century to overwhelm the target with 21 balls in hand.

Gambhir scored an unbeaten 66 off 44 balls with the help of seven fours and a six to hold the chase together and see his side home. Gambhir was ably supported by Jacques Kallis, who scored an unbetaen 30 off 23 balls. The duo stitched unconquered 53 runs for the third-wicket as KKR scored 127 for two in 16.3 overs. 

Earlier, Kings XI batsmen lost wickets at regular intervals to be restricted to the modest total after opting to bat at the PCA stadium.  Captain Adam Gilchrist, who retired hurt in the sixth over with a right hamstring problem only to return later to drag his side out of trouble, top-scored with an unbeaten 40, while Shaun Marsh made a 30-ball 33 with the help of four boundaries. Kings XI batsmen struggled from the onset against a determined KKR bowling line up and it could be gauged from the fact that only three of their batters could manage double figures.

Wily West Indian off-spinner Sunil Narine (2/24) and Brett Lee (2/26) starred with the ball for KKR, sharing four wickets between them. Laxmipathy Balaji (1/20) and Rajat Bhatia (1/23) also picked up a wicket each for the visitors. KKR's started their run chase on a blistering pace, racing on to their fifty inside the sixth over.

Brendon McCullum (15) was the initial aggressor as he clobbered Praveen Kumar for two boundaries in the first over.  KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir matched his partner stroke by stroke and welcomed Harmeet Singh with a huge six over mid-wicket and a four in the bowler's opening over.

After the initial burst, McCullum found boundaries hard to come by, which finally led to his dismissal. Struggling to score freely, the Kiwi hit a Piysuh Chawla's (2/19) short, way down the leg side delivery straight to Dimitri Mascarenhas at short fine-leg, but not before stitching a 53-run opening stand with Gambhir.

Chawla picked up his second wicket four overs later when Manvinder Bisla (11) dragged a delivery on to his stumps. Gambhir, on the other hand, played a calm and composed innings and notched up his half century in just 36 balls.

In Kallis, Gambhir found a perfect partner as they duo went about their business in style.  Kallis struck little-kwown Bhargav Bhatt for back-to-back four and a six to finish off the run chase in emphatic fashion.

Kings XI's last year's hero, Paul Valthaty once again disappointed as he fell early, outside edging a Lee delivery to Bisla behind the stumps in the third over. To make matters worse for Kings XI, Gilchrist had to retired hurt in the sixth over.

Kings XI failed to get a substantial partnership as Mandeep Singh (6), Marsh, David Hussey (10), Paras Dogra (6) and Mascarenhas (9) all departed in quick intervals. Marsh's dismissal in the 14th over, however, turned out to be a little controversial.

The left-hander underedged an attempted cut off a Lee delivery which just seemed to have carried to Bisla behind the wicket. But the batsmen was not satisfied and walked away only after checking with the keeper.

The dismissal also brought Kings XI owner Preity Zinta on to the ground as she was not satisfied with the decision. She, however, left the field only after Gilchrist intervened. Towards the end, Gilchrist and Chawla (9) tried their level best to shoot up the run rate but failed.

Kolkata takes the Charge against Royals

Rajasthan Royals (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Kolkata Knight Riders vs. Rajasthan Royals 

IPL 2012

TOSS: Rajasthan Royals won the toss, and elected to bat first

RESULT: Kolkata won by 5 Wickets

Date: 13th April 2012

Having found the winning touch in their last match, Kolkata Knight Riders would be hoping to maintain the momentum when they host Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League return match on Friday. The timing could not have been better for the Knights to capitalize as the Royals are coming after a battering at the hands of Mumbai Indians in their last match.

With the Knight Riders' next match (vs. Kings XI Punjab on Sunday) also scheduled at home, maintaining the winning momentum will top their agenda. Whereas Rahul Dravid's men appear a bit tired with the hectic scheduling, the Knights are fortunate to get a day's extra break after their win against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday.

It took the think-tank a bit of chopping and changing to get to the winning mode after the back-to-back losses against Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals in season five.

The four changes in the line-up meant that skipper Gautam Gambhir elevated himself to his usual slot, dropping out of form Kiwi opener Brendon McCullum, a move that set the tone in their much-needed maiden victory this season.

Gambhir led the way with a brisk 39-ball 64 to set up a total of 166, which eventually turned out to be a winning one. But their biggest plus point was the inclusion of veteran seamer Laxmipathy Balaji whose fired-up spell of 4-1-18-4, after Kallis took the prized-scalp of Chris Gayle, set the victory.

"Balaji is a quality bowler and has the capability to take wickets on any pitch. Hats off to him for the way he bowled. This was the best spell that I have ever seen in a Twenty20 competition," Gambhir said.  "It feels nice to finally get a win under our belt. To be honest, it was a team effort. I am pretty happy by the performance of the boys."

KKR would hope that sports psychologist Dr Rudi Webster give some mantra to the explosive Yusuf Pathan. Yusuf had scored 1011 for the Royals at an average of 26.6 and with a strike-rate of 161.2, to go with his 20 wickets, but is yet to notch up a fifty representing the Knights.

All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan who was finally included in the line-up after much criticism, is yet to fire and the Bangladeshi would be keen to be in the thick of action on the slow Eden Gardens strip. It would be naive to write off the Royals who turned it around with successive wins against Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders in the first-leg.

For Dravid and Co, having experienced their first defeat in Mumbai -- their first in an away match -- it would be a challenge to conquer the odds outside home. The bowling would be the main concern ahead of their second outing away from home.

The bowlers were at the receiving end against Kieron Pollard in the team's 27-run loss to Mumbai Indians. The team would hope that the bowlers stick to the task the way they did against the same team in the first-leg while defending 164.

"We have a young bowling attack, there's a little inexperience there. But there are lessons to be learnt. We will try and keep improving," Dravid said after their loss in Mumbai. Batting is not much of a worry though with Ajinkya Rahane and Owais Shah in splendid form. The duo gave Mumbai a run for money before the Englishman was castled by Lasith Malinga.

In their last meeting, Rahane was out for a duck after a superb 98 against Kings XI in their campaign opener. The orthodox top-order batsman would look to open his account against the Knights. The weather god stole the show in the last match at the Eden before the home side lost their opener in a rain-curtailed fixture.

Both the camps will keep their fingers crossed with sudden thundershowers towards the evening being the norm these days.

Teams (from):

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Gautam Gambhir (Capt.)

Jacques Kallis

Manvinder Bisla (wk)

Yusuf Pathan

Manoj Tiwary

Ryan ten Doeschate

Shakib Al Hasan

Laxmi Ratan Shukla

Brett Lee

Rajat Bhatia

Laxmipathy Balaji

Chirag Jani

Debabrata Das

Iqbal Abdulla

Iresh Saxena

Jaidev Unadkat

Pradeep Sangwan

Sanju Samson

Sarabjit Singh Ladda

Mohammad Shami Ahmed

Brendon McCullum

Eoin Morgan

Marchant de Lange

Sunil Narine

Rajasthan Royals:

Rahul Dravid (Capt.)

Ajinkya Rahane

Shreevats Goswami (wk)

Owais Shah

Ashok Menaria

Johan Botha

Kevon Cooper

Ankeet Chavan

Brad Hogg

Amit Singh

Siddharth Trivedi

Aakash Chopra

Abhishek Raut

Aditya Dole

Ajit Chandalia

Amit Paunikar

Amit Singh

Deepak Chahar

Dishant Yagnik

Faiz Fazal

Gajendra Singh

Pankaj Singh

Sreesanth

Samad Fallah

Stuart Binny

Sumit Narwal

Brad Hodge

Dinesh Chandimal

Paul Collingwood