April 20, 2008
Hussey Steers Kolkata Knight Riders
to Another Win
Kolkata
Riding on a brilliant 38 by Australian David Hussey, Kolkata Knight
Riders registered their second successive win as they defeated
Hyderabad Deccan Chargers by five wickets in a nail biting finish in
the Indian Premier League (IPL) here Sunday.
Chasing a target of 111 set by the visitors, Knight Riders romped
home with one over to spare at the Eden Gardens pitch that troubled
both teams and kept the spectators on their toes. The home side
finished with 112 for five wickets in 19 overs.
New Zealand opener Brendan McCullum, after his brilliant century in
Bangalore Friday, failed to do an encore and give a good start to
the Knight Riders and departed for just five runs. Australia captain
Ricky Ponting also followed him soon after without opening his
account.
Wriddhiman Shaha (10) and captain Sourav Ganguly (14) tried to
steady the innings as the odd ball popped up from the good length to
trouble the batsmen regularly. But it was Hussey, who came in at 21
for three, along with Ganguly stitched together a crucial 47-run
partnership to help register their first win on home turf.
After defeating Bangalore Royal Challengers,
this was the Knight Riders' first tie at home and the stage was set
by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan for his Knight Riders. He got a
host of celebrities to cheer for the team. Congress party leader
Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka and brother-in-law Robert Vadra
were also seen enjoying the game.
Also present at the stadium were the team co-owners actress Juhi
Chawla, film director Karan Johar, actors Rani Mukerji, Viveik
Oberoi, Mallaika Arora Khan, Arjun Rampal and music composers Bappi
Lahiri and Vishal-Shekhar.
Everything seemed to be going right for Kolkata when power failure
spoiled the party. The hosts were 89 for five in 16.4 overs when two
of the towers went off at exactly 7 p.m. David Hussey was batting on
21 and Laxmi Ratan Shukla was yet to open his account, with a close
finish was on the cards.
After 25 minutes the power breakdown was rectified and Knight Riders
now needed 20 from 17 balls. But Hussey didn't panic and kept his
cool. A six and a four off the last two ball of the 18th over from
Scott Styris more or less sealed the win.
In the last ball of the 19th over, Hussey lifted spinner Pragyan
Ojha for a huge six straight down the ground to finish off the match
in style.
Earlier in the day, the mighty batting line-up of Deccan Chargers
was brought down to its knees on a dusty track and the visitors
crumbled for 110. Andrew Symonds fought the lone battle with a fine
32, but the rest of the big names seemed clueless against the uneven
bounce that surprised them.
After winning the toss, Chargers' skipper V.V.S. Laxman had no
hesitation in batting first. But after just two overs, his decision
seemed to have backfired as the pitch started cracking with dust
coming off every time the ball hit the surface.
Pacer Ishant Sharma got deliveries to rise from the good length and
his fearsome pace only added to the batsmen's agony.
SCOREBOARD
Hyderabad Deccan Chargers:
Adam Gilchrist c Hafeez b Kartik 23
Y. Venugopal Rao c Kartik b Sharma 14
V.V.S. Laxman c Shukla b Dinda 0
Andrew Symonds c Hussey b Agarkar 32
Rohit Sharma c Saha b Kartik 0
Scott Styris b Hafeez 6
Arjun Yadav c Dinda b Hussey 10
Sanjay Bangar c Saha b Kartik 14
Chaminda Vaas c Ganguly b Agarkar 0
Rudra Pratap Singh not out 1
Pragyan Ojha run out (Hafeez/Saha) 0
Extras: (lb 4, w 4, nb 2) 10
Total: (all out in 18.4 overs) 110
Kolkata Knight Riders:
Wriddhiman Saha c Styris b Vaas 10
Brendon McCullum c Sharma b Singh 5
Ricky Ponting lbw b Vaas 0
Sourav Ganguly b Ojha 14
David Hussey not out 38
Mohammad Hafeez c Symonds b Ojha 13
Laxmi Ratan Shukla not out 5
Extras: (b 4, lb 7, w 15, nb 1) 27
Total: (for five wickets in 19 overs) 112
Fall of wickets: 1-6 (McCullum, 1.2 overs), 2-16 (Ponting, 2.1),
3-21 (Saha, 4.2), 4-68 (Ganguly, 12.6), 5-88 (Hafeez, 16.3)
Result: Kolkata Knight Riders won by five wickets
Toss: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers (chose to bat)
Debut: V.V.S. Laxman (Hyderabad)
Umpires: Billy Bowden (New Zealand) and K. Hariharan (India)
TV umpire: Asad Rauf (Pakistan)
Match referee: Farokh Engineer (India)
Reserve umpire: Francis Gomes (India)
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