KKR vs KXIP: As it happened...

Kings XI Punjab defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 2 runs on Sunday.

Feroz Khan/Zeenews Sports Bureau

Kolkata: Adam Gilchrist saw it and applied his cricketing brain to the fullest to snatch a narrow 2-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday. Chasing a modest target of 135, Kolkata were restricted to 132/7 in their allotted 20 overs as an inspired effort from Punjab’s bowlers and fielders won them a match they had all but lost. Here is how the match panned out: Highlights from the KKR innings 7:29 pm Over 20: That’s it for KKR. They have lost the match! An excellent effort in the field by Kings XI Punjab after being restricted to a modest total. They have won the match by 2 runs. KKR needed 9 runs from the last over but lost the wicket of Doeschate as he was bowled by Harmeet Singh. In the end they only managed to score 132/7 7:22 pm Over 19: Good over from Praveen Kumar under the circumstances. Just 4 from the over. KKR need 9 runs from 6 balls. 7:17 pm Over 18: Debabrata Das has brought KKR back in the driving seat! Second ball of the voer from Mascarenhas and Das smacks it towards long on for a boundary. Last ball of the over and Doeschate gets a lucky boundary. Doeschate tried pulling a short one from Mascarenhas but got a bottom edge that raced past Gilchrist towards the boundary. 11 runs from the over. 7:13 pm Over 17: Debabrata Das whips back to back boundaries off Harmeet Singh towards long off and midwicket. 12 runs from the over. 7:07 pm Over 16: Ryan ten Doeschate walks in and shows positive intent using his feet against the spinner Bhatt. 5 runs from the over. 7:04 pm Over 15: Out! Caught and bowled. Shakib Al Hasan goes for a slog sweep but ends up getting a top edge that was caught by Chawla. Debabrata Das sends the last ball from Chawla soaring into the sky over long on for a six. A wicket and 9 runs from the over. 6:59 pm Over 14: Masacrenhas gives away just 5 runs. RRR has now soared to 8.33. 6:54 pm Over 13: Double wicket over for Piyush Chawla! He has brought Punjab back in the game. The first one to bite the dust was Bisla who gave Chawla the charge and played for the turn. Instead of turning, the ball ran through his gates to crash on the stumps. The second top fall was big-hitting Yusuf Pathan who went for a sweep but completely missed the ball to be bowled. He went back without scoring. Punjab are not letting this go away easily! KKR are 5 wickets down. Excellent stuff from Chawla. Two wickets and just one run from the over. 6:48 pm Over 12: Out! Bhatt strikes for Punjab! He has trapped Manoj Tiwary in front of the wickets. Bhatt tossed one up and Tiwary misread the line and was struck on his pads. Umpire had no hesitation in raising his finger. 6:45 pm Over 11: Punjab are keeping it tight. Just 3 runs from Piyush Chawla’s over. 6:42 pm Over 10: Harmeet Singh is keeping it slowm, bowling from the back of his hand too often. Four runs from the over. Halfway down the innings, KKR are 71/2. 6:38 pm Over 9: KKR are not taking too many risks and are dealing in singles only. 6 runs from the over. 6:35 pm Over 8: Good shot from Manoj Tiwary, places it perfectly wide of third man for a boundary. 7 runs from the over. 6:29 pm Over 7: 6 runs from the over. KXIP 54/2. 6:25 pm Over 6: 7 runs from the over including a boundary at sweeper cover. The over began with a boundary but Mascarenhas managed to pull it back. 6:21 pm Over 5: 8 runs from Praveen Kumar’s over. Two of them came from wides. 6:16 pm Over 4: Out! Dimitri Mascarenhas strikes big for Punjab and gets the wicket of Gautam Gambhir. A slower one from the bowler and Gambhir (22) just pushes it back for a simple return catch. Bisla had earlier dispatched Mascarenhas for a biggie over long off. A wicket and 9 runs from the over. 6:09 pm Over 3: Meanwhile, Gautam Gambhir is in no mood to back down as he has smoked two more boundaries. The first one was cut fine past the keeper and the next was flicked to deep square leg. 9 runs from the over. 6:05 pm Over 2: Out! A stunning catch from Paras Dogra at cover puts a full stop to Jacques Kallis’s innings. Kallis made room and played one in the air from Bhargav Bhatt. Dogra dived to his left and took a one-handed blinder. Kallis gone for one. However, Gautam Gambhir had slammed back to back boundaries off the first two deliveries towards extra cover and deep square leg. 11 runs and a wicket from the over. 6:00 pm Over 1: Good start from Praveen Kumar. An excellent diving effort by Shaun Marsh though saved a certain boundary. Just two runs from the over. Led by spinner Sunil Narine's five-wicket haul, KKR restricted KXIP to 134/9. Highlights from the KXIP innings 5:41 pm Over 20: Out! And it is a five-wicket haul for Sunil Narine. Harmeer tried playing one fine but the ball bounced off the face of the bat to keeper Bisla. The previous delivery though got him a boundary via a thick inside edge. Bhargav Bhatt plays against the spin and connects it well to carve the last delivery over long on for a six. KXIP end their innings at 134/9 5:37 pm Over 19: Jacques Kallis has been hammered in this over! First Piyush Chawla smacks him straight down the ground with a perfectly timed shot for a six and then Harmeet Singh swings it hard to dispatch consecutive boundaries. 19 runs from the over. 5:30 pm Over 18: Sunil Narine is making the batsmen dance to his tunes. He is on a hat-trick as his back to back wickets have broked the back of Punjab’s batting. First it was Bipul Sharma who ended up edging a top spinner to the keeper. The next to go was Praveen Kumar who had no clue where the ball was going and was bowled. 5:23 pm Over 17: Double wicket over for Bhatia! Slower one from Bhatia and Bipul Sharma lofts it straight into the hands of Deba Das at long on. In comes Dimitri Mascarenhas and edges the first ball he faces to keeper Bisla. Dimitri looks disappointed and rightly so as the replays clearly show there wasn’t any edge whatsoever. KXIP have lost 6 wickets. 5:20 pm Over 16: A slower one from Unadkat and Bipul Sharma lofts it over long off for a maximum! 11 from the over. 5:14 pm Over 15: Out! Disappointment for David Hussey as false call from his partner Paras Dogra found him halfway down the track but backed out at last minute. By that time, Gambhir threw that ball back towards non-strikers’ end and Hussey was well short of his ground. 2 runs and a wicket from the over. 5:09 pm Over 14: David Hussey launched Hasan’s last delivery over long on for a big six, ruining his otherwise nice over. Tossed up and full, Hussey readily latched on to it as the ball disappeared into the crowd. 10 runs from the over. 5:04 pm Over 13: Good over from Bhatia. He is not giving any room to the batsmen keeping it straight. Just 2 runs from the over. 4:59 pm Over 12: Out! Shakib Al Hasan strikes for KKR in his last delivery as Mandeep Singh has been caught at deep midwicket. Singh went for a slog sweep but found Ryan ten Doeschate stationed there to complete the catch. KXIP have lost their third wickets. 5 runs and a wicket from the over. 4:54 pm Over 11: Rajat Bhatia introduced into the attack and his first over goes for 8 runs. He hasn’t been able to disguise his slower ones successfully. 4:49 pm Over 10: Mandeep greets Unadkat with an excellent cover drive for four. Another expensive over from Unadkat as it goes for 11 runs. Halfway down the innings, Punjab are 60/2. 4:43 pm Over 9: It was going to be another tight over from Shakib before David Hussey dismissed his last delivery for a boundary towards long on. 8 runs from the over. KXIP are 49/2. 4:39 pm Over 8: Left arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat has been introduced into the attack and Mandeep Singh welcomes him with a six over fine leg. Good over for Punjab as Unadkat’s first over goes for 10 runs. 4:34 pm Over 7: Shakib al Hasan introduced into the attack. He is bowling with a slip. 5 runs from the over. 4:30 pm Over 6: Tight over from Kallis. Just 2 runs from the over. 4:25 pm Over 5: Out! Narine strikes again! He has bowled Shaun Marsh. Narine tricked Marsh (1) into playing for the off break but bowled one that came in and went past gap between his bat and pad to crash on the stumps. Just 3 runs from the over. 4:19 pm Over 4: Shaun Marsh walks in after the dismissal of Gilchrist. Just 4 runs from Kallis’ second over. 4:15 pm Over 3: Out! Sunil Narine strikes early for KKR and it is Adam Gilchrist who has to take along walk towards the dugout as he was caught Manoj Tiwary. Gilchrist (5) was looking to swing it hard but ended up top edging it and Tiwary completed an easy catch at point. A wicket and just 3 runs from Narine’s first over. 4:10 pm Over 2: Jacques Kallis bowls a slower one and Mandeep, even though he doesn’t time it well, manages to place it in the gap between mid on and midwicket for four. Seven runs from the over. 4:05 pm Over 1: Mandeep Singh gets off the mark with a boundary towards midwicket. Yusuf Pathan has given seven runs in his first over. KKR captain Gautam Gambhir won the toss and chose to bowl first against Adam Gilchrist led Kings XI Punjab. Teams: Kings XI Punjab: Adam Gilchrist(w/c), Paras Dogra, Shaun Marsh, David Hussey, Mandeep Singh, Piyush Chawla, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Bipul Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Bhargav Bhatt, Harmeet Singh Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir(c), Jacques Kallis, Manvinder Bisla(w), Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Ryan ten Doeschate, Debabrata Das, Rajat Bhatia, Sunil Narine, Jaidev Unadkat