IPL 2012: Kolkata Down Struggling Deccan Chargers

IPL 2012: Kolkata Down Struggling Deccan Chargers

Manoj Tiwary guided Kolkata home with an unbeaten 30

©REUTERS / Action Images

Kolkata Knight Riders 127-5 (Tiwary 30no) beat
Deccan Chargers 126-7 (Dhawan 50) by 5 wickets
Indian Premier League 2012, Cuttack
Scorecard

Kolkata Knight Riders beat Deccan Chargers by five wickets, consigning them to a fifth straight Indian Premier League 2012 defeat at Cuttack.

The Knight Riders themselves have themselves now picked up eight points and lie third in the table, further complicating the competition.

After an hour-long rain delay, Gautam Gambhir won the toss and asked Deccan to bat first. Kumar Sangakkara (12 off 15 balls) and Shikhar Dhawan gave them a steady start, adding 37 runs for the first wicket.

Parthiv Patel joined in and the duo put up 44 runs for the second wicket, before Patel was run out for 23. That triggered a collapse as has been Deccan’s wont this IPL.

From 81 for 2 in the 12th over, they went down to 121 for 7 in the final one, finishing at 126. The middle order simply failed to fire as batsman after batsmen failed to get going.

Cameron White was out for 10 and JP Duminy remained unbeaten on 16 off 15 balls. Only Dhawan’s run-a-ball fifty helped them cross the hundred run mark. He was out in the 16th over, having hit four fours and a six.

The Kolkata bowlers were bang on the money. Brett Lee returned figures of one for 15 in his four overs, while Sunil Narine and Lakshmipathy Balaji finished with two for 26 and two for for 22 respectively.

Kolkata have made short work of their opposition before but their batting has always provided a strange anticlimax. Today was no different as their batsmen faltered once more going for the small target.

Brendon McCullum was out for 10 runs, as was Manvinder Bisla. Anand Rajan got rid of Gambhir, who was batting well on 30 at that time. Yusuf Pathan came in, struck one six and then was bowled going for a second one. Dale Steyn then removed countryman Jacques Kallis for 23 off 24 balls.

That reduced the score to 105 for five in the 17th over. If Deccan had shown a little more application and set a target nearer to 150, things would have become very difficult for Kolkata.

But Manoj Tiwary, with his unbeaten 30 off 28 balls, was able to avert disaster.

© Cricket World 2012