Kolkata beat Bangalore by 30 runs to make playoff cut; RCB bow out
Kolkata Knight Riders continued to sizzle with Robin Uthappa and Sunil Narine playing leading roles as they booked the IPl playoff berth after shutting doors on Royal Challengers Bangalore with a 30-run victory at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.
Continuing his dream run Uthappa played the sheet anchor role in his unbeaten 83 from 51 balls (10x4, 1x6) in a 121 runs partnership from 70 balls with Shakib Al Hasan (60 from 38 balls; 5x3, 3x6) to help KKR post a towering 195/4.
This was Uthappa’s fifth half-century this season as with a tally of 572 runs, the KKR opener usurped the Orange Cap from Glen Maxwell (533), who was holding on to the pole since the start of season seven in Abu Dhabi on April 16. Defending the massive total, off-spinner Sunil Narine joined the party and executed the role of wrecker-in-chief to perfection grabbing 4/20 to hand KKR a sixth successive win, a milestone they had only posted in their triumphant 2012 season.
After Umesh Yadav gave the breakthrough in Chris Gayle (6) who got out to a dubious lbw decision, Yogesh Takawale and Virat Kohli kept RCB in the hunt in their must-win match with an 85-run partnership but Narine struck twice in his third over scalping both the dangerman to keep them in check.
He returned the same way in his fourth over this time claiming another two prized sclaps of Yuvraj Singh (22) and AB de Villiers (13) to turn the match around. In fact Narine did not do badly in following Uthappa, though in the leading wicket takers tally as he remained one away from Purple Cap holder Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s (Sunrisers Hyderabad) tally of 20.
Brief scores
Kolkata Knight Riders: 195 for four in 20 overs (Robin Uthappa 83 not out, Shakib Al Hasan 60, Yusuf Pathan 22; Mitchell Starc 1/32, Abu Nechim 1/33, Ashok Dinda 1/38) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore: 165 for five in 20 overs (Yogesh Takawale 45, Virat Kohli 38; Sunil Narine 4/20) by 30 runs.
Six wins aren’t fluke
After the win, Gambhir said that their sixth win on the trot was not a fluke and asked his team-mates to maintain the intensity in the play-offs. “It’s still a long way to go. The important thing is to turn up in two days time and play with same passion. The actual tournament starts now,” Gambhir said.
Gambhir said he always believed in his team and backed his boys despite losing four matches in a row. “I’m pretty relieved... It’s very satisfying. Deep inside the heart, I thought we had enough talent to turn it around. It’s satisfying but not surprising. It has not happened by fluke. We have really worked hard for it. Everybody has taken up responsibilities,” he said.