Gujarat Lions roared back in style, taming the
formidable Kolkata Knight Riders in its den and ending its three-match
losing streak, at the Eden Gardens here on Sunday.
Wicketkeeper-batsman
Dinesh Karthik, who took two catches, scored an impressive half-century
— his third of the season — to lead Lions’ run chase. The visitors, who
won by five wickets with two overs to spare, regained the top spot with
their seventh victory.
Earlier, Lions restricted
Knight Riders to 158 despite a defiant 85-ball 134-run unbeaten
partnership between Yusuf Pathan (63) and Shakib Al Hasan (66).
Lions,
propelled by Praveen Kumar’s skilful seam bowling, reduced the hosts to
24 for four in six overs. This was Knight Riders’ worst-ever start in
the tournament this season.
The wily Praveen executed
his plans well to deliver a double blow in the third over. He provided
the breakthrough when the ball brushed Knight Riders captain Gautam
Gambhir’s thigh pad before deflecting on to the stumps. Manish Pandey
fell to a gem of a delivery from the Lions seamer.
Dhawal Kulkarni, bowling with discipline, removed Robin Uthappa. Dwayne
Smith then got rid of Suryakumar Yadav who gloved a sharply rising
delivery and Suresh Raina spectacularly plucked the ball in his right
hand diving to his left.
Yusuf, Shakib on song
Yusuf
and Shakib revived the innings, targeting the spinners and registering
the highest fifth-wicket stand in the IPL. Slam-bang expert Yusuf
contemptuously dispatched the spinners to the boundary. He slammed seven
fours and a straight six off Shivil Kaushik.
Shakib,
who produced his best performance with the bat this season, played
cautiously and sensibly before opening up. The southpaw, dropped on
three, smashed four fours and as many sixes, including two in a row off
Dwayne Bravo.
In reply, Lions was on the right track,
thanks to the quickfire 42-run opening-stand between Brendon McCullum
and Smith. The former punished Morne Morkel, hammering him for two
glorious sixes and a four in the seventh over.
Karthik,
who added 49 with Suresh Raina, hit three successive fours off Brad
Hogg and played the linkman’s role to perfection in his 29-ball knock.
It was his innings that made Lions’ journey to the destination smooth.
KKR 158/4 (20.0 Ovs)
GL 164/5 (18.0 Ovs)
Gujarat Lions won by 5 wkts
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