KKR won against Pune by seven wickets
Riding on skipper Gautam Gambhir’s unbeaten half-century, Kolkata Knight Riders booked a place in the Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs with their seven-wicket thrashing of Pune Warriors here on Thursday.
The Delhi boy hit seven fours in his 54-run knock off 46 balls as Knight Riders achieved the target of 119 runs with 20 balls to spare at the D.Y. Patil Stadium.
Gambhir promoted himself to the opener’s slot, after Jacques Kallis picked up an injury, and anchored the innings after opener Shreevats Goswami departed in the first over.
Manoj Tiwary chipped in with a run-a-ball 24 and Yusuf Pathan scored 29 to help Kolkata register their eighth win from 13 games.
Earlier put in on a dry track, IPL debutants Pune struugled to bat and slumped to their ninth defeat in the Twenty20 competition.
Kolkata spinners struck early, removing Pune’s top five batsmen cheaply after Gambhir won the toss and decided to bowl on a slow, turning track.
Sourav Ganguly struck 18 off 22 balls, including the only six of Pune innings off left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdullah.
Yuvraj Singh (24) tried to go for a late counter-attack but nicked behind the wickets off paceman Lakshmipathy Balaji (2-7) in the final over.