Title: Sourav powers KKR to 24-run victory

Desc:

Host Kolkata didn’t quite get off to the kind of start they would have liked but captain Sourav Ganguly more than made up for it with a delightful half-century (88) and steered his team to a commanding 181 for 6. The bowlers returned to restrict the Deccan Chargers to 157 for 5 and carved out a comprehensive 24-run victory.

Chasing a daunting target of 182, Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs began well and raced off to 31 in 2.3 overs. The stage was set for bigger firework but it didn’t quite go according to the script for the Deccan team. Gilchrist went for a shot too many and holed out to Pujara in the deep off Agarkar. The team needed a big partnership and that never really happened.

Gibbs did play a fine half-century (50) and took the match close but failed to stay till the end to finish it. The Deccans paid dearly for Gibbs’s lapse for he was the set batsman who could have steered the team home. Andrew Symonds did try his bit with a fighting 45, but he inexplicably looked out of sorts. In the end, the KKR total proved too big on the day.

Kolkata bowlers bowled in the right areas and pinned down the opposition, forcing them to make mistakes. Out of six bowlers used by Ganguly, five of them averaged nine or less runs per over and that made the difference in the end.

Electing to bat, Kolkata were wobbly at 68 for 3 after 8.3 overs, but Ganguly played a wonderfully-paced innings to steer his team to a massive total. He first worked the field with nudges and flicks and then cracked some elegant shots all over the park. He hammered five massive sixes and nine boundaries during his sparkling knock.

He found an ally in David Hussey and stitched together a valuabe 78-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Hussey played well for a 27-ball 31, hitting two sixes and a four during his stay at the wicket.

After asked to field, Adam Gilchrist made a smart move and used the slow medium pace of Andrew Symonds against opener Chris Gayle, who likes the ball to come to his bat. The move paid off as Symonds mixed it well and had Gayle caught at long off by Kemar Roach for four in the third over.

Symonds bowl a tight line and kept the batsmen in check. In the last over of the power play, he choked Cheteshwar Pujara for runs, who was looking good until then. The youngster threw his wicket down on the last ball, trying to force the pace. He had to walk back as a leading edge went straight to Pragyan Ojha at mid-off, who made no mistake.

A little later, Manoj Tiwary played a rash sweep shot early in the innings and paid for the mistake. He dragged the ball into the wickets to leave Kolkata struggling at 68 for 3 after 8.3 overs.

All this while Ganguly kept working the field well and kept the scorer busy with singles and twos. In the 7th over, he chose to break free and hammered Kemar Roach for a delightful six over long-on and followed it with a steer to third man for a boundary.
He picked his bowlers carefully and went after them. In one over, he cracked a gorgeous square drive to score a boundary and then a ball later played a delicate glance to the fine leg boundary off Harmeet Singh.

Known for his liking for spinners, especially left-arm spinners, Ganguly buried Ojha under a flurry of shots. In one over, he hammered him for a six and a four and in another over lofted him for three sixes. While going for the fourth one, he holed out to Rohit Sharma in the deep mid-wicket.

After Ganguly's exit, Hussey stepped on the gas and ensured that the last five overs produced 65 runs.

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