Match 29: Kolkata Wins Finally!

In a rain curtailed match, Kolkata Knight Riders finally tasted a win after a gap of 4 matches. It was unusual to rain in Kolkata in this season, but it did not stop the match.

Though pitch report said fielding first is the best options, both the captains thought otherwise. Winning the toss, Ganguly decided to bat first citing the outfield as reason. The overs were reduced to 16 per side with each bowler can bowl a maximum of 3 with an exception one bowler who can bowl maximum of 4 overs.

Chopra and Hodge opened the innings. The scoreboard did not move as Ganguly expected. Steyn got Chopra in front of the wicket for 2 in his 2nd over. In the same over, Ganguly and Hodge scored a four each. Hodge was out in the next over, pulled a short ball that went straight into the hands of Vinaykumar at deep square leg.

The inform batsman David Hussey hit a four and a six in the fifth over to take the score to 36 for 2. Ganguly trying to get his form, was not successful in this match also. He was out in the 8th over, going for a quick single, but found himself short of crease. He played with soft hands and the fielder White hit the stumps direct. Ganguly was out for 20 off 22 balls with 2 fours.

The first Zimbabwe player to play in this IPL is Taibu. David Hussey gave some hopes for Kolkata by hitting two continuous sixes of Kumble. He could have judged the second run better. After two sixes, the next ball went to square leg of the pads. He looked for second run, but Steyn sent a good throw from the deep straight to keeper who just knocked off the stumps. Hussey scored 26 off 12 balls a four and 3 sixes.

Taibu got out in the 12th over, caught by Boucher of Steyn, trying to pull the ball, but it took top edge. He hit 2 fours in his 15 off 12 balls. In the same over, Shukla hit two fours off Steyn and bowled in the next ball through inner edge.

At the end of 12 overs, Kolkata were 89 for 6 and added just 6 runs each in the next two overs. With two more overs to go, they were 101 for 6.

Sure that Bangalore would have eyed a win at this stage of the game. Zaheer Khan gave away 14 runs in the next over including 2 fours. Kumar's next over added another 14 to total with 2 huge sixes.

The match saw a confusin when umpires said that Steyn cannot bowl as Praveen Kumar already completed his four. Only one bowler can bowl and Praveen already did that. Everyone thought Rahul made a mistake in his calculations. Finally he was correct as the scorers made a mistake by adding a over to Vinay Kumar instead of Praveen Kumar.

Kolkata ended their innings with 129 for 7, losing Karthik in the last over.

Bangalore could have won this game if they had gone agains the bowler at least from 5th over. They were playing it like a test game. Though Ishanth Sharma was firing from one end, they could have picked other bowlers.

Chandrapaul got out trying to slog, caught at mid on by Murali Karthik of Sharma. End of four overs, Bangalore were 19 for 1.

The hopes were brought back for few balls by Arun Kumar, who hit 3 fours of Umar Gul. With 12 runs alredy in the over, he could have played sensible, waiting for the strike. Pushing the ball to point, he went for a quick single, but the fielder Hodge sent a direct hit to send him back.

With two new batsman in the crease, the run rate dropped below 6. The 6th, 7th and 8th over added 3 runs each to the score. At the end of 8 overs, Bangalore were 41 for 3. Ganguly was bowling a good line at one end giving away just 5 runs of his 2 overs.

Murali Karhik was brought in and that over added 10 and Bangalore crossed 50.

Bangalore needed 80 runs in 42 balls with 8 wickets end. What were they doing? They have to win this game and have to throw the bat.

Ganguly bowled Dravid in the first ball of the 10th over. Dravid played a paddle sweep and missed the ball, which uprooted his leg stump. "DADA" was celebrating along with Kolkata crowd. He gave just 2 runs in that over to complete his spell of 3 overs giving away 7 runs and taking a wicket. End of 10 overs, Bangalore struggling at 53 for 3.

White and Boucher tried their bit. White became dangerous as he hit a four and six of Shukla and gave momentum. The 11th over added 15 to the total. The 12th over added 8 to the total with a four by Boucher.

Umar Gul's next over added 15 to the total. Last three overs were good for Bangalore. White hit two fours off Gul to take the score 91 for 3 and requiring 40 in 3 overs.

Ishanth, having two overs, was rightly brought back. He gave five runs to change the equation to 35 in two overs.

Karthik was brought back. This is a crucial over. Boucher played the first ball back to bowler, but White started the run. Karthik easily knocked the stumps to run out White for 30 off 16 balls with 3 fours and a six.

Boucher decided to against Murali Karthik. He hit a four, six and another four, a single. This over added 15 runs, but they should have added more.

Last over, 20 runs needed, Ishanth to bowl, Boucher on strike. First ball was a four.
No run of the next ball, the next two balls were 2 runs each. Two balls 12 runs. Boucher scores a single to midwicket. The entire Eden Garden goes wild. Praveen Kumar hits a four of last ball, but that was useless at this stage. Bangalore lost by 5 runs.

Ganguly for his wonderful spell of 3-0-7-1 was declared man of the match.

Match 29
Venue: Kolkata
Date: May 8, 2008
Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders and Bangalore Royal Challengers
Captains: Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid
Toss: Kolkata Knight Riders and decided to bat
Result: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 5 runs
Man of the Match: Sourav Ganguly off Kolkata Knight Riders (India)
Points: Kolkata Knight Riders-2; Bangalore Royal Challengers-0
Score:
Kolkata Knight Riders 129 for 7 in 16 overs (A Chopra 2, BJ Hodge 10, SC Ganguly 20, DJ Hussey 26, T Taibu 15, LR Shukla 11, WP Saha 17 not out, M Kartik 17, Umar Gul 6 not out, Extras—5 (lb 3, wide 2), DW Steyn 4-0-27-3, Z Khan 3-0-27-1, P Kumar 3-0-36-1, R Vinay Kumar 3-0-15-0, A Kumble 3-0-21-0) beat Bangalore Royal Challengers 124 for 4 in 16 overs (J Arunkumar 22, S Chanderpaul 7, MV Boucher 50 not out, R Dravid 5, CL White 30, P Kumar 4 not out, Extras-6 (lb 3, wide 2, nb 1), AB Dinda 3-0-20-0, I Sharma 4-0-25-1, Umar Gul 3-0-30-0, SC Ganguly 3-0-7-1, M Kartik 2-0-24-0, LR Shukla 1-0-15-0)

Match 22: Fourth Win in A Row for Kings XI and Fourth Loss in a Row for Kolkata

What is happening to Kolkata Knight Riders and Ganguly. The favorites of the at one time has now faced four continuous defeats. They won their first two games against Bangalore Royal Challengers and then against Deccan Chargers. After that, they have were not in their winning streak.

Chasing a target of 179, they came close and lost by 9 runs. David Hussey and Saha were the only batsman trying win for Kolkata. After the departure of Hussey, it was almost over for Kolkata. Ganguly failed in this crucial match scoring just 5 runs, was caught at third man by Pathan off Sreesanth. Two balls later, Mohammad Hafeez was bowled by Pathan for 13.

Das who played well in the previous match not able to continue from where he left. He was also out for 5 caught by Yuvaraj off Sreesanth. Brad Hodge was trapped plumb in front of the wicket by Pathan. The bowlers gave a good start for Kings XI taking two wickets each.

With the loss of 4 wickets, Kolkata were struggling with 29 on the board at the end of 5 overs. Hussey and Shukla shouldered the responsibility of saving Kolkata, but Shukla was soon bowled by VRV Singh for 7. Saha joined and unexpectedly took Kolkata closer to the traget.

They did not lose their wicket, but was not able to increase the run rate. At the end of 10 overs, they were 52 for 5.

Gangandeep bowled the 13th over, which created the momentum for Kolkata. Two fours, a six and two 2s were scored by Hussey in that over which added 17 including the first ball single by Saha. The target came down less than 100, requiring 99 of 42 balls.

Hopes bowled a well contained 14th over giving away just 5 runs. Saha hit two 2s and 2 sixes in Chawla's next over adding 16 to the total. The target reduced to 78 from 30 balls.

Hopes next over costed 12 runs with a six and three 2s by Hussey reducing the target to 66 from 24 balls. VRV Singh bowled the 17th over giving away 11 runs including a four in the first ball to Saha.

The last three overs needed 55 runs. Hopes over was smashed for two sixes and two 2s to score 18 runs including two singles. That was a big over, but not enough.

37 from 12 balls. First ball was a two by Hussey and then a six. The next two balls were scored 2 runs each. He tried for another 6 but this time found the fielder. Hopes took a good running catch to dismiss Hussey. He was out for 71 off 4 fours and 4 sixes.

Last ball was a six by Saha as the bowler's crossed before the catch was taken.

19 runs required of last 6 balls.

Pathan bowled a very good last over one more time for his team. He gave away just 9 runs to give Kings XI Punjab another victory. Except the last ball, all other balls were scored for 1 or 2. The last ball required 14, but only 4 was scored giving victory to Yuvaraj Singh's team.

Earlier, winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Kings XI Punjab finished their quota of 20 overs with a score of 178 losing 6 wickets. Man of the match in the previosu game, Marsh scored 40 off 32 balls and Hopes scored 18. They added 28 for the first wicket before Hopes fell for Dinda.

Sangakkara was retired at and Yuvi joined the crease. The 2nd wicket added 54 and Yuvaraj was out for 17. The run out was the break through. Marsh was the next to go stumped off Hussey for 40.

Jayawardane was caught by Ganguly for 10. In 12.1 overs, Kings XI were 102 for 4. Goel was run out as well for 6.

Sangakkara came back to play with a runner got out for 28, bowled by Umar Gul. In the final overs, it was Irfan Pathan and Chawla who gave home to Kings XI.

Ishanth Sharma bowled the last over in which he gave away 21 runs and that proved costly for Kolkata Knight Riders. At the end of 19, overs, they were 157 for 6, but it went to 178 after 20 overs.

First ball was a leg by and Chawla got the strike. The 2nd and 3rd ball were four. Fourth ball was two runs, a risky one. The fifth ball was another four hit towards beyond short leg. The last ball was sent to backward point for a six. That was a superb innings and useful runs to Kings XI. This over turned the match entirely in favor of Kings XI.

Match 22
Venue: Chandigarh
Date: May 3, 2008
Teams: Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders
Captains: Yuvaraj Singh and Sourav Ganguly
Toss: Kings XI Punjab and decided to bat
Result: Kings XI Punjab won by 9 runs
Man of the Match: Irfan Pathan off Kings XI Punjab (India)
Points: Kings XI Punjab-2; Kolkata Knight Riders-0
Score:
Kings XI Punjab 178 for 6 in 20 overs (SE Marsh 40, JR Hopes 18, KC Sangakkara 28, Yuvraj Singh 17, DPMD Jayawardene 10, K Goel 6, IK Pathan 24 not out, PP Chawla 21 not out, Extras—14 (b 4, lb 5, wide 4, nb 1), I Sharma 4-0-41-0, AB Agarkar 3-0-26-0, AB Dinda 3-0-24-1, Mohammad Hafeez 3-0-28-1, DJ Hussey 3-0-23-1, Umar Gul 4-0-27-2) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 169 for 6 in 20 overs (Mohammad Hafeez 13, SC Ganguly 5, DB Das 5, BJ Hodge 1, DJ Hussey 71, LR Shukla 7, WP Saha 59 not out, AB Agarkar 1 not out, Extras—7 (b 1, wide 6), S Sreesanth 4-0-25-2, IK Pathan 4-0-18-2, VRV Singh 4-0-31-1, Gagandeep Singh 4-0-43-1, JR Hopes 3-0-35-0, PP Chawla 1-0-16-0)

Match 18: Rajasthan Royals win 4 in a row!

This is the 4th continuous win for Rajasthan Royals, who thought to be one of the poor teams in the IPL after their defeat in their first match. But, they have come back well and beaten good sides includig Kolkata Knight Riders.

Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Shane Warne's brave decision paid off in the end. Though Smith out for 2 in the 2nd over, Asnodkar and Kaif played well and also maintaining the run rate. They added 95 runs for the 2nd wicket in 9.3 overs.

Rajasthan was going slow till 6 overs when they scored 45 for 1. Kaif was out in the 7th over last ball after hitting for a six in the preivous ball. He read the changein pace early and gave a return catch to Agarkar.

The 9th over gave the momentum to Rajasthan as Asnodkar hit 3 continous fours of Agarkar. He hit the first ball of the 10th over to a four and then a single brought his 50 in 29 balls with 8 fours and a six. Yousuf Pathan scored 2 more fours in teh same over.

11th over bowled by Ganguly added 14 to the score with Pathan hitting a four and Asnodkar hitting 2 fours. At the end of 11 overs, Rajasthan Royals were 103 for 2.

Umar Gul provided break through in the 12th over when he dismissed both the dangerous batsman, Asnodkar caught by Hussey ad mid-off and Shane Watson for a duck, leg before though the reply showed it hit the bat first.

Jadeja hit the first six of this tournament in the free hit. He was out in the 18th over for 33 in 19 balls. The 18th over added 16 runs to the total with a six and a four. The 20th over costs 2 wickets--Yousuf Pathan bowled for 55 off 33 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes and Warne run out for 7.

Rajasthan Royals ended their innings 196 for 7. Umar Gul picked 3 wickets in his four overs giving away 31 runs.

Chasing almost at the rate of 10 per over, Salman Butt was dropped in the 2nd ball by Niraj Patel. That was a simple catch and he mistimed his jump at mid wicket.

But, he didn't last lond as he was out in the next over. Sohail Tanvir took the wicket of Salman Butt, thick inside edge ended up in stumps.

Agarkar who came as a third batsman, hit a six in the last ball. He hit another 6 in Watson. He scored quick fire 20 of 13 balls with 1 four and 2 sixes. He was out off Watson.

Hodge was run out unlucky. The straight drive by Ganguly touched the bowler Trivedi's hand and hit the stump. Hodge was way short of his crease. He was out for 1. With not much runs scored, the required run rate going up, Ganguly and David Hussey has to fire. Both of them scored a six each in the 8th over bowled by Trivedi.

At the end of 10 overs, Kolkata were 78 for 3, requiring 119 in the next 10.

Ganguly scored a six and four of the 11th over bowled by Patel. In the 12th over last ball, Ganguly pulled Pathan over mid wicket where Smith took a good diving catch. Though he was out, the third empire found it otherwise. Ganguly forced the umpire to go for 3rd umpire, which actually is against the rules.

End of 13 overs, 107 for 3, and needed 90 for 42 balls.

Warne bowled 14th over, where Hussey scored a six and a four. After a single, Ganguly came two steps forward and hit it towards long on where Kaif took a good catch just before the rope. He stood there for few seconds to balance the catch and ensure that he doesn't cross the boundary line. Ganguly's 51 run innings came to an end with 4 fours and 2 sixes off 39 balls.

Shukla, the person who scored firing 40 not out in the preivous match was out for 2. While coming back for the 2nd run, he was short by an inch. The third umpire gave the right decision.

With 69 off the last 5 overs and only 5 wickets in hand, Patel gave away 8 runs in the 16th over. Whereas Sohail Tanvir conceeded 7 in the 17th over. The target was 54from 18 balls, which was almost impossible unless two big overs come in favor of Kolkata.

Trivedi took 2 wicketsin the 18th over, dismissing David Hussey for 42 through a yorker. Then Saha was bowled him through another yorker.

The last two overs required 50 runs. Kolkata lost two more wickets again in the 19th over--DB Das was caught by Watson of Sohail Tanvir and in the next ball, Umar Gul was run out taking a chance for the 2nd run.

Last over required 46 runs with one wicket in hand. Dinda trying to clear the in field the off side and hit it in the air. Two fielders, Kohli and Warne went for the catch and almost collided. But, Kholi stretched his left hand in the air and pulled out a blinder of the catch. This will be the catch of the tournment so far.

Kolkata lost by 45 runs, their 3rd continous loss. Shar Rukh Khan will be worried along with Ganguly. They have to do something quickly to ensure that they come to winning habit again.

Score:

Match 18
Venue: Jaipur
Date: May 1, 2008
Teams: Rajasthan Royals v. Kolkata Knight Riders
Captains: Shane Warne and Sourav Ganguly
Toss: Rajathan Royals and decided to bat
Result: Rajasthan Royals won by 45 runs
Man of the Match: SA Asnodkar of Rajasthan Royals (India)
Points: Rajasthan Royals-2; Kolkata Knight Riders-0
Score:
Rajasthan Royals 196 for 7 in 20 overs (GC Smith 2, SA Asnodkar 60, M Kaif 21, YK Pathan 55, SR Watson 0, RA Jadeja 33, SK Warne 7, Sohail Tanvir 3 not out, M Rawat 1 not out, Extras 14--b 1, lb 6, wide 3, nb 4, AB Dinda 4-0-30-0, I Sharma 4-0-26-1, AB Agarkar 4-0-46-1, Umar Gul 4-0-31-3, DJ Hussey 2-0-26-0, SC Ganguly 1-0-14-0, LR Shukla 1-0-16-1) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 151 all out in 19.1 overs (Salman Butt 7, SC Ganguly 51, AB Agarkr 20, BJ Hodge 1, DJ Hussey 42, LR Shukla 2, DB Das 11, WP Saha 1, Umar Gul 2, I Sharma 1 not out, B Dinda 1, Extras 12--b 3, lb 2, wide 7, SR Watson 3.1-0-22-2, Sohail Tanvir 4-0-30-2, SK Trivedi 4-0-31-2, MM Patel 4-0-29-0, SK Warne 2-0-20-1, YK Pathan 2-0-14-0)

Match 4: David Hussey Helps Kolkata Register 2nd Win!

David Hussey's 38 off 43 balls helped Kolkata Knight Riders continue their winning habit. What thought to be an easy target, the pitch helped the bowlers. The ball didn't come to the bat as expected. The win has set the entire almost house full crowd of Kolkata into fire. Their first victory was in Bangalore and the second win was in front of the home crowd.

Chasing the target of 111, the centurian and record holder for highest individual run getter in an innings, McCullum was out for 5, caught at point off RP Singh. He played the ball on the midwicket, but it took the edge and flew to point. Ponting was out for a first ball duck, leg before to Vaas. Saha, the other opener, gave an easy catch to midoff trying to drive the ball, but it went in the air. With three wickets lost for 21 in the 5th over, Hussey and skipper Ganguly played sensibly and built the innings. They both added 47 for the 4th wicket before Ganguly was bowled by Ojha at the end of the 13th over. He tried to slog the ball over mid-wicket, but he missed the ball completely in the flight and it it the leg stump.

With 7 overs remaining and needed 43, Mohammad Hafeez joined Hussey. His run a ball innings of 13 ended when he tried to reverse sweep, which took the edge and popped up in the air. Symonds in mid-wicket took an easy running catch, leaving Kolkata at 88 for 5 in 16.3 overs.

With 23 requiring of 21 balls, Shulka started off with a single. When Kolkata needed 22 of 20 balls, the lights of Eden Garden went off and the play was stopped for a while. The play resumed after 30 odd minutes and the referee decided not to reduce the over.

Hussey hit Styris for a 6 and a four in the same over and that turned the match in favor of Kolkata and they finished the game with one over to spare.

David Hussey declared Man of the Match and so far in all the four matches, only the foregin players have grabbed the awards.

Earlier, winning the toss and deciding to bat first, nothing went in favor of Hyderabad Deccan Chargers. They were cheaply dismissed for 110 and they did not play their full quota of 20 overs. They were all out in 18.4 overs.

Andrew Symonds was the top scorer with 32 off 39 balls, followed by Gilchrist 23 off 22 balls. Skipper Laxman was out for a duck. The Deccan Chargers had four batsman not scoring--Laxman, RG Sharma, Vaas, and Ohja.

Murali Karthik was the pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets.

Match 4
Venue: Kolkata
Date: April 20, 2008
Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders v. Deccan Chargers
Captains: Ganguly and VVS Laxman
Toss: Deccan Chargers and decided to bat
Result: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 5 wickets with 6 balls remaining
Man of the Match: DJ Hussey of Kolkata Knight Riders (Australia)
Points: Kolkata Knight Riders-2; Deccan Chargers-0
Score:
Deccan Chargers 110 all out in 18.4 overs (AC Gilchrist 23, Y Venugopal Rao 14, VVS Laxman 0, A Symonds 32, RG Sharma 0, SB Styris 6, AS Yadav 10, SB Bangar 14, WPUJC Vaas 0, RP Singh 1 not out, PP Ojha 0, Extras 10--lb 4, wide 4, nb 2, AB Dinda 3-0-18-1, I Sharma 3-1-9-1, AB Agarkar 2-0-19-2, M Kartik 3.4-0-17-3, Mohammad Hafeez 4-0-8-1, DJ Hussey 3-0-35-1) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 112 for 5 in 19 overs (WP Saha 10, BB McCullum 5, RT Ponting 0, SC Ganguly 14, DJ Hussey 38 not out, Mohammad Hafeez 13, LR Shukla 4 not out, Extras 28--b 4, lb 8, wide 15, nb 1, WPUJC Vaas 3-0-9-2, RP Singh 3-0-15-1, SB Styris 4-0-19-0, SB Bangar 3-0-19-0, A Symonds 2-0-20-0, PP Ojha 4-0-18-2)

Match 1: Kolkata Knight Riders Wins first IPL match! McCullum Creates World Record!

The first match of the India Premier League (IPL) was won by Kolkata Knight Riders owned by Bollywod Star Sharukh Khan. There were lot of records broken during the first match itself.

The star of the match was McCullum! He smashed the Banglore Royal Challengers bowlers all over the ground. He is the first batsman to score a century in the IPL tournament.

He took 7 balls to score his firt run. He stated off with a boundary over mid-wicket of Zaheer Khan. He hit two fours and a six in the same over and that provided the momentum for him and Kolkata.

He reached his fifty--the first of the tournament in 32 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes.

Ganguly was the first wicket to fall in the tournament, caught at slip by Kallis of Zaheer. He scored 10. Ponting playing in somebody's captaincy after a long time, was a not a threat to Bangalore. He was cheaply dismissed for 20 off 20 balls with a four and a six.

McCullum then played his demolishing innings. He hit White for two sixes and a four. He reached his 100 in 53 balls--the 2nd fifty just in 21 balls which consisted of 8 fours and 7 sixes. He didn't stop there, he became the first batsman to score a 150 in 20-20. He reached the milestone in 70 balls. He was not out on 158 in just 73 balls to take Kolkata to a dream score of 222 for 3.

He became the highest run scorer in an innings in the 20-20 game. But, records are meant to be broken.

Bangalore, chasing a big total of 223 in 20 overs, did not do well. They were bundled out for 82 in 15.1 overs. The only batsman to score double digit was Praveen Kumar, 18 not out. Ishanth Sharma was a threat to batsman and he finished with 1 for 7 in 3 overs. Dinda finished with 2 for 9 in 3 overs. Agarkar picked 3 wickets and Ganguly 2.

The Match Details:

Match 1
Venue: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Date: April 18, 2008
Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders and Bangalore Royal Challengers
Captains: Ganguly and Dravid
Toss: Bangalore Royal Challengers and decided to field
Result: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 140 runs
Man of the Match: McCullum of Kolkata Knight Riders (New Zealand)
Points: Kolkata Knight Riders-2; Bangalore Royal Challengers-0
Score:
Kolkata Knight Riders 222 for 3 in 20 overs (Ganguly 10, McCullum 158 Not Out, Ponting 20, DJ Hussey 12, Mohammad Hafeez 5 not out, Extras 17--b 4, lb 4, wide 9, Praveen Kumar 4-0-38-0, Zaheer Khan 4-0-38-1, AA Noffke 4-0-40-1, Kallis 4-0-48-1, SB Joshi 3-0-26-0, CL White 1-0-24-0) beat Bangalore Royal Challengers 82 all out in 15.1 overs (Dravid 2, Jaffer 6, Kohli 1, Kallis 8, CL White 6, Boucher 7, Akhil 0, Noffke 9, Praveen Kumar 18 not out, Zaheer Khan 3, SB Joshi 3, Extras 19--lb 8, wide 11, AB Dinda 3-0-9-2, Ishanth Sharma 3-0-7-1, Agarkar 4-0-25-3, Ganguly 4-0-21-2, Shukla 1.1-0-12-1)