Gayle sizzles, Knight Riders tame Kings XI in rain-marred tie

M Subromoney

Durban, Apr 21 (PTI) Chris Gayle's blitzkrieg fashioned
Kolkata Knight Riders' 11-run win against Kings XI Punjab via
Duckworth Lewis method in a rained-marred Indian Premier
League (IPL) match here Tuesday.

Chasing 159 for their first win of the tournament, the
Knight Riders were 79 for one after 9.2 overs when heavens
opened up and the Kings XI Punjab found themselves at the
receiving end of the rain god's whims for the second time on
the trot.

The Mohali side had earlier lost their opening match to
the Delhi Daredevils, who chased down a meagre revised target
in the rain-affected tie.

Dropped twice, Gayle (44 not out) butchered the Kings XI
attack during his 26-ball stay, hitting four sixes and two
fours in the process.

Put into bat, the Kings XI Punjab had earlier posted 158
for six in their allotted 20 overs with captain Yuvraj Singh
(38), Irfan Pathan (32) and Mahela Jayawardene (31 not out)
scoring bulk of the runs at the Kingsmead.

In reply, the Knight Riders' got off to a flying start
with Gayle and captain Brendon McCullum (21) imposing
themselves on the bowlers.

To make matters worse for themselves, the Mohali side
failed to latch on to chances that came their way.

Batting on three, Gayle pulled Yusuf Abdulla but Karan
Goel grassed the sitter at mid-wicket. Again on 32, Piyush
Chawla's googly kissed Gayle's bat but Kumar Sangakkara could
not pouch the ball behind the stumps.

Gayle made them pay heavily for those lapses and hit
Irfan Pathan and Andulla for two towering sixes.

Pathan's ordeal was not over yet. Gayle hit the left-arm
seamer for back-to-back fours and followed it up with a six
and his aggression proved contagious as McCullum followed
suit, hitting Abdulla into the crowd.

McCullum greeted Viktamjeet Malik with a four and a six
but nicked the next delivery to perish caught behind. But by
then, he had added 57 quick runs with Gayle in 5.3 overs.

Earlier, Kings XI Punjab got off to a sluggish start
before Irfan Pathan (32 off 17 balls) came up with a brisk
knock to revive the run rate.

After Pathan's exit, things looked gloomy again for them
but Yuvraj's breezy 38 and Mahela Jayawardene's (31) unbeaten
19-ball cameo helped Kings XI cross the 150-mark.

Kings XI found the going tough as Ishant Sharma conceded
just one run in his first over and drew first blood in his
second when Gayle rose to pouch Karan Goel's (0) slash in the
slips.

Promoted to number three, Irfan did justice to the
pinch-hitter's role and runs soon started pouring in.

The first ball he faced from Ishant scorched the point
region grass before crossing the rope and Pathan later heaved
the bowler over deep midwicket for a six.

Moises Henriques was also greeted with two fours in his
first over before Sourav Ganguly intervened.

Stripped off KKR captaincy, Ganguly was in the thick of
action with his military medium pace as he removed Pathan and
Ravi Bopara (15) in a space of three balls to peg back the
opposition.

Yuvraj went on to add 58 runs with Kumar Sangakkara (26)
but just before Yashpal Singh caught a skier off Henriques to
remove the Kings XI captain. PTI SB