Kolkata Knight Riders kept their chances of qualifying for the
semi-finals alive by comfortably beating Royal Challengers Bangalore by 9
wickets in a Champions League Twenty20 match in the south Indian city on Thursday.
 Jacques Kallis made an unbeaten 64 off 47-ball to lead Kolkata Knight Riders to their first win in the Champions League Twenty20. © AFP |
Chasing a challenging target of 170, the KKR top-order batted beautifully to knock off the runs in only 17.3 overs.
The most heartening fact was skipper Gautam Gambhir's return to form
as he clobbered the RCB bowlers to score an unbeaten 55 off 31 balls
(3x4, 4x6) and added 109 runs with the ever-consistent Jacques Kallis
for the undefeated second wicket. Kallis scored another fluent half
century remaining undefeated on 64 in 47 balls with four boundaries and
six.
Brad Haddin who played his first match blasted his way to a 27-ball
42 and released the initial pressure as Jacques Kallis also started
playing shots at the other end.
Haddin was in a mood to spoil the party for young left-arm seamer
Sreenath Aravind who was selected to play for India, was tonked for 19
runs in one over including two huge sixes and a four.
The duo added 62 runs in 7.1 overs before RCB skipper Daniel Vettori
tossed one up and Haddin gave a simple catch to Virat Kohli in the
covers.
In walked skipper Gautam Gambhir and looked far more determined than
what he had looked in recent months. He concentrated hard, ran the
singles and twos well and also hit a few crisp boundaries.
Gambhir-Kallis added 50 runs in only 31 balls to lay the foundation of
an impressive victory.
The best part was sixes that Gambhir hit. One was off Vettori over
deep mid-wicket while the next one was straight over Dirk Nannes' head
over long. Just to make a point he moved towards off-stump and lifted
Nannes over deep fine leg to complete his 50 off 30 balls.
Earlier, a splendid rear guard action by skipper Daniel Vettori
helped Royal Challengers Bangalore post a challenging 169 for nine.
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