In a crucial match for Kolkata, where a win would still keep them in the race for a birth in semi-final, captain Sourav Ganguly lead from the front and retained their hope for semi finals.
Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Salman Butt couldn't find his form and got out in the first over after striking a boundary. He was caught by Gilchrist off Vaas. Breakthrough in the first over itself.
Ganguly joined Akash Chopra and built a 68-run partnership for the 2nd wicket in 57 balls. Thought it was slow, the partnership laid the foundation for big overs in the remaining overs.
At the end of 10 overs, Kolkata were 73 for 1 with Ganguly on 43 with 8 fours and Chopra on 24 off 22 balls with 3 fours.
The poor calling between Ganguly and Chopra sent the later to the pavilion. Good direct hit by Gibbs in mid-wicket.
The 102-run partnership in 48 balls between Ganguly and David Hussey boosted the Kolkata's run rate and also gave them a good chance to go beyound 200 run mark.
Ganguly reached his 50 in the 40 balls with 9 fours. He did not take risk as much as Hussey did, but that made more sense.
As soon as he reached his 50, he hit two sixes off Ojha. The 14th over added 19 runs to the total and the momentum picked up.
The next over of Venugopal added 10 to the total and at the end of 15, Kolkata were 118 for 2.
Styris was brought into the attack expecting break-through, but Hussey hit hi for a four in the 2nd ball and then Ganguly hit him for two continuous sixes to take his tally to 84 and the score to 136 for 2 in 16 overs.
The sixes and fours started coming easily. Vaas was hit for a six by Ganguly of a full toss. Another full toss was sent to four by Hussy and followed by a six of one more full. 19 runs to the total and it crossed 150.
RP Sing conceeded 20 runs to Hussey in the 18th over including 2 sixes, 1 four and two 2s. Score was 175 for 2 in 18 overs. Hussey crosed his 50 with the six in 25 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes.
With 9 more to reach his hundred and just 12 balls remaining, he was caught at fine leg off Vijayakumar. The ball pitched outside the leg stump and he hooked it straight to fielder. His 91 came off 57 balls with 11 fours and 5 sixes.
Tabiu hit a four and got out in the 20th over. Shukla hit two fours and the last ball of the innings added 6 runs to the total. Shukla hit the ball to long off and retuned for the 2nd run. The fiedler at long off threw the ball to RP Singh, who in turned threw it to the wicket keeper end for a run out without realizing that no one was backing up. The ball touched the ropes and added 6 to the total. The poor throw helped Kolkata to go past 200, a psychological figure.
Chasing 205 in 20 overs, is always difficult. One or two quick wickets or good overs would put pressure to the players.
The start did not go as expected. Gibbs was caught by Salman Butt at third man for 5.
Gilchrist couldn't time the ball well as he most of the times does. He hit 3 fours in the 5th over bowled by Dinda but got out in the same over last ball, caught by Ganguly. He was out for 24 off 17 balls with 5 fours.
Ravi Teja was out in the first ball of the next over caught behind off Umar Gul.
Rohit Sharma and Styris carrying more and more pressure had to save their side from another loss. Styris was soon out for 5 caught by Shukla off Ganguly.
Venugopal joined Rohit in the 9th over. Rohit hit Ganguly for a huge six over mid wicket. At the end of 10 overs, Deccan Chargers were 74 for 4. Rohit hit another six of Ganguly, but that was not enough.
He got out in the 13th over after hitting a four in the first ball. He played across the line to hit it over mid wicket, but it went straight to Ganguly at the edge of the circle. He contributed 33 off 24 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes.
Murali Karthik's over game some how for Decccan Charger when Venugopal tried his chances. He hit him for 3 sixes and a four. All of there were good shots which took the score to 121 for 5 in 14 overs.
Bangar was out in the 15th over, caught by Chopra off Ganguly for 2. Ganguly is becoming a good T20 bowler.
Venugopal hit a six of Ishanth Sharma, the one handed shot off a wide short ball. It cleared the third man boundary. The over pitched next ball was driven through extra cover for a boundary. 12 runs from this over changed the equation to 68 off 24 balls.
Venugopal hit a four and a six of the next over by Umar Gul and reached his 50. He was dealing in boudaries and sixes in every over. He is becoming more and more dangerous for Kolkata. He reached his 50 in 28 balls with 3 fours and 5 sixes. The 17th over added 17 runs to the total. 51 from 18 balls.
Shukla gave just 7 runsin the 18th over and picked the wicket of Vaas.
44 from 12 balls with 3 wickets in hand. Including a six by Venugopal, the 19th over added just 11 to the total.
Last over, 33 runs required. Deccan managed to get only 9 runs and lost the match by 23 runs, almost ending their dream of making it to the top 4.
Venugopal was not on 71 off 42 balls with 4 fours and 6 sixes. That was a superb fighting knock, which shocked Kolkata.
Ganguly once again is the man of the match for his 91 and 2 wickets of 4 overs giving 25 runs.
Match 32
Venue: Hyderabad
Date: May 11, 2008
Teams: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders
Captains: Adam Gilchrist and Sourav Ganguly
Toss: Kolkata Knight Riders and decided to bat
Result: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 23 runs
Man of the Match: Sourav Ganguly off Kolkata Knight Riders (India)
Points: Kolkata Knight Riders-2; Hyderabad Deccan Chargers-0
Score:
Kolkata Knight Riders 204 for 4 in 20 overs (Salman Butt 4, A Chopra 24, SC Ganguly 91, DJ Hussey 57 not out, T Taibu 9, LR Shukla 14 not out, Extras-5 (lb 1, wide 3, nb 1), WPUJC Vaas 3-0-36-1, DP Vijaykumar 3-0-21-1, SB Styris 3-0-28-0, RP Singh 4-0-59-1, Y Venugopal Rao 4-0-24-0, SB Bangar 1-0-10-0, PP Ojha 2-0-25-0) beat Hyderabad Deccan Chargers 181 for 7 in 20 overs (AC Gilchrist 24, HH Gibbs 5, DB Ravi Teja 10, RG Sharma 33, SB Styris 5, Y Venugopal Rao 71 not out, SB Bangar 2, WPUJC Vaas 9, RP Singh 6 not out, Extras-16 (lb 8, wide 4, nb 4), AB Dinda 4-0-33-3, I Sharma 3-0-27-0, Umar Gul 4-0-43-1, SC Ganguly 4-0-25-2, M Kartik 3-0-29-0, LR Shukla 2-0-16-1)
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