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Kolkata Knight Riders put up a clinical performance in front of a moderately sized home crowd at the Eden Gardens to register their first win this season. The Knight Riders were always in control of the contest and posted a challenging total of 163 for the Deccan Chargers to chase. Jacques Kallis scored a half century once again and quick knocks from Gautam Gambhir, Manoj Tiwary and Yusuf Pathan took Kolkata to a solid total. The Deccan Chargers lost wickets up front and were never really in the game. A few lusty blows later in the innings ignited some interest in the game but it was never enough to get them home. In the end the Chargers fell 9 run short and are in a spot of bother having lost their second game in a row. Kallis was adjudged the Man of the Match for his half century in addition to picking up 4 catches.

The Indian Premier League returned to sacred ground at Eden Gardens with Gautam Gambhir leading the Kolkata Knight Riders against Kumar Sangakkara’s Deccan Chargers. The game was crucial to both sides with both having lost their opening games. Momentum has been the biggest key in IPL seasons past and a defeat for either side would put them in an unenviable 0-2 position, a tough wall to scale especially with 10 teams in this season's competition. The Knight Riders brought in Dutch superstar Ryan ten Doeschate for his all round skills, ignoring local lad Laxmi Ratan Shukla. The leggie Sarabjit Ladda was also replaced by left arm quick Jaidev Unadkat. The Knight Riders still didn’t play their full quota of 4 overseas players having a few absentees from their squad who were playing in Bangladesh. The Deccan Chargers meanwhile were in mood to chop and change just yet, naming an unchanged eleven from the side that lost to Rajasthan Royals in their first game.

The toss was won by Knight Riders' captain Gambhir, who decided to bat first and put the pressure on the Chargers. The crowd gave a loud cheer when Gambhir won the toss though the stands weren’t completely full, probably an overdose of a cricket mixed in with the Ganguly effect.

Dale Steyn started proceedings but was treated with a boundary first ball from his South African compatriot Jacques Kallis. The outfield was lightning-quick, as it always is at Eden Gardens, and Kallis’ class stood out as Steyn and Ishant Sharma were he hit for 3 boundaries in the first two overs. Steyn came back strongly and went past Manvinder Bisla’s edge before Ishant dropped the batsmen later in the same over. Bisla was sent in with a license to take chances which he did well as he pierced the field to get the odd boundary. At the other end, Kallis continued to nudge singles around and hit bad balls to the boundary. Hence, the Knight Riders had a solid start once again scoring 46 runs in the powerplay without the loss of any wickets.

Runs slowed down as Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha were brought into the attack. The 50 of the innings came up in the 8^th over but Mishra struck soon after when he trapped Bisla right in front of the stumps for 19. Gambhir didn’t delay his arrival on this occasion and came in at no.3 with the Knightriders’ run rate falling after the early surge. Gambhir was busy as soon as he arrived and took upon himself the task of reviving the run rate. Kallis too decided to get a move on and hit a huge six off Jean Paul Duminy to bring up his half century. He tried to hit the following ball but didn’t connect well enough, finding Shikhar Dhawan in the deep instead. Manoj Tiwary, who hit two massive sixes in the last match to take the Knight Riders close to a win, was sent in ahead of Eoin Morgan and Yusuf Pathan. The 100 came up off the last ball of the 14^th over with a boundary from Gambhir and Kolkata would have hoped to pick up atleast 10 an over from the last 6.

Tiwary continued to show signs of form as he took on Duminy, hitting two massive sixes in three balls, much to the partisan crowd’s delight. Gambhir kept the runs coming at the other end and played the spinners exceptionally well. The Kolkata skipper's innings finally came to a close as he was bowled for 29 (18) by a beautifully flighted delivery from Mishra. Pathan was then sent in to open his shoulders and ensure the side post a competitive score. He had a lion's share of the strike and made good use of it hitting a boundary nearly every over. Tiwary supported his partner well and both men took the attack to Steyn in the 18^th over amassing 15 runs. Mishra bowled the 19^th giving away 9 runs finished his spell with outstanding figures of 2-19 in 4 overs. Steyn bowled a good last over limiting the Knight Riders to just 8 and picking up the wicket of Pathan on the very last ball for 22 (15b). Kolkata ended with 163, a competitive score, but certainly not insurmountable.

Gambhir, encouraged by the turn in the pitch, started with Iqbal Abdullah once again, who bowled a terrific first over conceding just 1 run. Abdullah nearly run out Ishank Jaggi with a brilliant piece of fielding in the same over. Abdullah applied more pressure and earned Jaggi’s wicket bowling him with a quicker one for just 3. Eoin Morgan, who had dropped a catch in the last game against the Chennai Super Kings, produced one of the most magnificent fielding efforts, diving to stop a certain boundary and then ran out Shikhar Dhawan with only one stump to aim at. Captain Sangakkara came in with Chargers struggling at 15 for 2. A collision happened between Ten Doeschate and Rajat Bhatia in the 5^th over, when Bhatia was attempting an easy catch of Bharat Chipli, which saw Ten Doeschate winded for a second but he was up and running soon. Gambhir dropped a tough chance in the following over which would have definitely made the catch of the tournament. The Chargers were looking to consolidate after a poor start scoring just 30 in the powerplay.

An action packed powerplay saw the Knight Riders in charge and Deccan had to do something dramatic in order to come back into the contest. Chipli decided to look for some boundaries to relieve the pressure and picked Bhatia as his first victim, following it up with a boundary off Pathan in the  next over. Runs started to come but the required run rate was climbing at a faster rate, approaching 10 an over. Bhatia picked up the crucial wicket of Sangakkara (16 off 15 balls), who flicked one straight to Kallis at square leg who didn’t move an inch to take the catch. Struggling at 53 for 3 at the end of 9 overs, the Chargers had some serious thinking to do during the time-out. Chipli hit a massive six off Pathan to take the first step towards a comeback. Abdullah struck once again and this time it was JP Duminy who tried to clear the ropes but managed to just get the ball as far as Kallis on the boundary. The task was becoming increasingly difficult as the Knight Riders didn’t give anything away. Kallis picked up another catch when Chipli on 48 unselfishly pulled one off Bhatia, but found the veteran South African on the boundary.

The required rate had climbed over 13 with just 6 overs to go and with half the side back in the pavilion it was Kolkata's game to lose. Daniel Christian, one of the big buys for Chargers in the auction, decided to take on the bowling after Chipli’s departure. Ravi Teja helped Christian in the cause, hitting the boundaries to keep up with the required rate. Both men were hitting the ball cleanly and the Chargers sniffed a chance. Christian hit a four and a six off Abdullah but couldn’t clear the ropes on the following ball and was well caught by Ten Doeschate. Teja was out two balls later as Kallis collected his fourth catch of the innings. It seemed curtains for Chargers with Jaidev Unadkat varying his pace very well giving the batsmen no chance. Laxmipathi Balaji conceded just 9 in the penultimate over, leaving Unadkat with 20 runs to defend. Steyn was clueless against Unadkat’s slower deliveries and the bowler cleaned him up with a few balls to go. The action didn’t finish till the last ball when Morgan nearly pulled off an unbelievable catch on the ropes, with the ball eventually carrying for 6, but it didn’t affect the result as the Knight Riders won by 9 runs.

The star bowler for the Knight Riders was Iqbal Abdullah who picked up 3 wickets conceding just 24 runs in his 4 overs. Unadkat and Bhatia picked up 2 wickets each to show that they are worth their place in the side even when the superstars from Australia descend on the IPL.

Kolkata thus registered their first points of the tournament, while Deccan Chargers are still looking for theirs. The Knight Riders will travel to Jaipur to face the Rajasthan Royals this Friday and they will be strengthened by overseas inputs returning from Bangladesh. The Deccan Chargers meanwhile return to their home ground, where they have a wretched record, to host the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday, and will be praying to break not only their home jinx, but their poor start to the new season.

Teams:

Kolkata Knight Riders: MS Bisla(wk), JH Kallis, G Gambhir(c), MK Tiwary, EJG Morgan, YK Pathan, RN ten Doeschate, Iqbal Abdulla, R Bhatia, L Balaji, JD Unadkat

Deccan Chargers: S Dhawan, IR Jaggi, KC Sangakkara(wk & c), B Chipli, JP Duminy, DT Christian, DB Ravi Teja, A Mishra, DW Steyn, I Sharma, PP Ojha

Mini Scorecard:

Kolkata Knight Riders 163/4 in 20 overs (8.15 runs per over)
J Kallis 53(45) A Mishra 2-19
M Tiwary 30*(21) JP Duminy 1-23

Deccan Chargers 154/8 in 20 overs (7.7 runs per over)
B Chipli     48(40)   I Abdullah    3-24
D Christian   25(13)   R Bhatia   2-29

Kolkata Knight Riders win by 9 runs