Ryan's fifty takes KKR to 147/7 against Mumbai in Eliminator

Mumbai, May 25 (PTI) Ryan tan Doeschate struck a fighting
unbeaten half-century as Kolkata Knight Riders recovered from
a disastrous start to post a competitive 147 for seven against
Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator clash of the Indian Premier
League here Wednesday.
Asked to bat, Kolkata were reeling at 20 for four after
six overs but Doeschate (70) combined with Yusuf Pathan (26)
for a 60-run partnership for the fifth wicket to resurrect the
innings in the do-or-die match at the Wankhede stadium.
Doeschate, the Dutch batsmen, then found an able ally in
Shakib al-Hasan (26) as the duo put on 41 runs for the sixth
wicket to further improve the health of their innings.
Doeschate's unbeaten knock, coming off 49 balls, negated
the good work done by Mumbai bowlers at the start as hosts had
KKR on the mat by scalping four top-order batsmen within the
powerplay period.
The Dutch player, who survived a stumping chance off
spinner Harbhajan Singh when he was on 38, hit six fours and
three sixes in his knock as KKR scored 98 runs off the last 10
overs to give the bowlers something to fight for.
Munaf Patel (3/27) was the most successful bowler while
Lasith Malinga was, as usual, the most economical, giving away
just 19 runs apart from taking one wicket. The Knight Riders lost openers Jacques Kallis (7) and
captain Gautam Gambhir (4) in the second and third over
respectively to slump to 13 for two.
Kallis hit a glorious cover driven four off Patel but
perished in the next ball as his uppish drive was taken well
by rival captain Sachin Tendulkar.
Gambhir, who was playing in the match despite reports
that he might skip it due to a shoulder injury, started
confidently with a step-out loft for four but was bowled by
Harbhajan.
More trouble was in store for Kolkata as Shreevats
Goswami was caught behind in the second over of Patel and soon
they were 20 for 4 with the departure of leading run-getter
Manoj Tiwary (4) in the sixth over.
Tiwary was trapped leg before with an angled-in delivery
by Dhawal Kulkarni to put Mumbai right on top.
Aggressive batsman Yusuf Pathan played carefully in the
company of Doeschate, who released some pressure with a six
off James Franklin, the first of the innings, in the eighth
over.
Kieron Pollard was hit for 15 runs in the 11th over with
Doeschate hoisting him for his second six over long on and a
four before Pathan smashed the West Indian over his head for
his first four.
Pathan, having decided to go on an all-out attack,
hammered Harbhajan straight and top edged Munaf for fours in
successive overs to up the tempo.
But just when he started to look dangerous, Pathan got
rid off him once again through a great running catch by
Pollard, who ran 25 yards to his left at long on and completed
the catch in over number 13.
Doeschate escaped a leg side stumping chance off
Harbhajan in the 14th over and then swung the next ball to the
square leg fence.
New batsman Shakib Al Hasan took the attack to the rivals
soon after arriving to the crease by crashing three successive
fours off Kulkarni to bring the visitors 100 in the 15th over.
Shakib struck four fours in his 16-ball cameo before
dragging the ball from Lasith Malinga back on to his stumps.
Towards the end Doeschate added vital runs and carted
Pollard for a six and a four in the final over to give the
innings the final flourish.