KOLKATA:
Yusuf Pathan (63 not out off 41balls, 7x4, 1x6) and Shakib Al Hasan (66 not out off 49 balls, 4x4, 4x6) pulled
Kolkata Knight Riders
out of a hole after
Gujarat Lions opted to bowl first in their clash at the Eden Gardens on Sunday evening. But their unbeaten 134-run stand for the fifth wicket paled into insignificance as the dominant Lions powered their way to a 5-wicket victory with 2 overs to spare, thus ending their three-match losing streak.
Dinesh Karthik's sparkling half century (51 off 29 balls, 8x4, 1x6 ) and Aaron Finch's cameo (10ball 29, 3x4, 2x6) helped the Lions climb back to the top of table with 14 points (7 wins). They were aided by a brisk start provided by Brendon McCullum (29 0ff 24) and Dwayne Smith (27 off 18), as the Lions chased down 159 for victory.
With Sunil Narine sitting out again and Morne Morkel going at almost 10 an over, the KKR attack lacked bite and were never in the hunt. Brad Hogg was taken apart by Karthik in the first over, while Shakib went for plenty too.
Earlier, Yusuf joined Shakib at a time when the Knight Riders were gasping at 244 in the sixth over, having been jolted by some fine swing bowling by veteran Praveen Kumar. The right-left pair played sensible cricket, focusing on building a partnership which was the need of the hour, before playing the big shots in an unbeaten stand of 134 (85 balls).
Praveen, bowling at a friendly pace of 125-130 kmph, pitched the ball on or just outside the offstump, to create doubts in the batsmen's minds. His double-strike in the third over of the innings lifted spirits in the Lions camp.
Gautam Gambhir, after missing a couple on off-stump, was bowled around his legs by Praveen. Two balls later, Manish Pandey failed to get his bat out of the way of a delivery that pitched a shade outside off and held its line, to glove a catch to Dinesh Karthik.Praveen's first spell read a magical 3-1-7-2.
The Lions struck another huge blow in the next over, with Dhawal Kulkarni getting the edge of Robin Uthappa's tentative bat for Karthik to do the rest. And when Suresh Raina pulled off a stunning catch at slip jumping acrobatically to his left and holding on with his right hand -to send back Suryakumar Yadav, the Lions looked to be on course to ending their three-match losing run. Yusuf and Shakib, however, were in no mood to give up. Yusuf announced his arrival by smashing Dwayne Smith over extra cover's head for a four.
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