Jacques Kallis and Gautam Gambhir’s unbeaten 109-run partnership for the second wicket not only helped Kolkata Knight Riders thrash Royal Challengers Bangalore by nine wickets as they easily chased down the target of 170 with 15 balls to spare in the Champions League Twenty20 at Bangalore on Thursday night. This was not only KKR’s first-ever win in the Champions League Twenty20, but has also kept alive their slim hopes of adavncing to the knock-out stages.
Brad Haddin and Kallis got KKR’s run chase off to a fantastic start as they added 62 runs in only 7.2 overs with the former being the more aggressive of the pair. Haddin hit five boundaries and two sixes in his 27-ball 42 before he was caught by Virat Kohli at cover off RCB captain Daniel Vettori’s bowling shortky after part-time wicket-keeper Tillakaratne Dilshan had fluffed an easy stumping chance. This though was the only joy RCB would have for the rest of the match as Kallis and Gambhir tore apart the insipid attack, with the exception of Vettori and to an extent J Syed Mohammad. Dirk Nannes was impressive in his first over but leaked runs when he came back for his second spell. Matters were compounded for RCB when Nannes’ new ball partner S Aravind, who earlier in the day was selected in India’s squad for the first two ODIs against England, was taken apart by Haddin early in KKR’s innings.
After this blistering start, Kallis and Gambhir batted sensibly and kept the scoreboard moving over while hardly taking any risks. Kallis, who hit the winning shot and was named Man of the Match, was unbeaten on 64 off 47 balls (4 boundaries and a six); while Gambhir shrugged off his last two failures and batted with confidence as he hit three boundaries and four huge sixes in his 31-ball 55*. Earlier, Vettori played a captain’s innings to steer RCB out of a hole and lead them to a competitive 169 for 9; but on a good batting track like the one at the Chinnaswamy Stadium the home team fell about 15-20 runs short. Vettori, who came into bat at the fall of the fifth wicket in as early as the 12th over, hit five boundaries and two sixes in his 23-ball 44; and also added 61 runs in only 32 deliveries for the seventh wicket with Raju Bhatkal. This partnership also helped RCB claw their way back in the match and score 67 runs for the loss of three wickets in the last five overs of their innings. It could however had been an altogether different story had Vettori being given out LBW to Kallis when the RCB captain had only scored seven runs. A length ball caught Vettori on the crease but the umpire adjudged the delivery pitched outside leg stump, even as replays indicated the RCB skipper’s off stump would have gone for a walk. Brett Lee ended Bhatkal’s cameo when he had him caught by Yusuf Pathan at midwicket; and the same fielder was in action soon after as he took a tumbling, low catch in the last over to dismiss J Syed Mohammad. The batsman after an enquiry with Pathan took him on his word and walked to give Jaidev Unandkat the first of his two wickets in the over; the other being that of Vettori, who was out in the last ball of the RCB innings. Earlier, Chris Gayle got the RCB innings off to a flying start as he hit three sixes in his 16-ball 25 before a Kallis yorker knocked back his leg stump and then Lee had Virat Kohli caught by Gautam Gambhir at covers for a blob as RCB slipped to 29 for 2. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Saurabh Tiwary then consolidated the innings even as the young southpaw found Lee’s pace too hot to handle and his stay at the crease was ended by Pathan in the 10th over. Dilshan (18 in 21 balls), who replaced AB de Villiers in RCB’s playing XI, had a troubled stay in the middle as he struggled to time the ball; and when he was smartly stumped by Brad Haddin off Rajat Bhatia, RCB’s score was 71 for 4 in the 11th over. De Villiers, who is South Africa’s limited-overs captain broke his left middle finger in training on Wednesday and as a result will miss the upcoming one-day international and Twenty20 series against Australia while he undergoes surgery on the finger.
Kolkata Knight Riders 171 for 1 (Kallis 64*, Gambhir 55*) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 169 for 9 (Vettori 44, Bhatkal 25) by nine wickets.
