Kolkata Knight Riders 137-5 (Jacques Kallis 31, Manvinder Bisla 29, Ashok Menaria 1-3) beat Rajasthan Royals 131-5 (Owais Shah 31, Rahul Dravid 28, Shakib Al Hasan 3-17) by 5 wickets.
Shakib Al Hasan spun out the top order of Rajasthan Royals and they could not recover thereafter as Kolkata Knight Riders earned their second win of the IPL 2012.
Rajasthan Royals scored 131 runs with five wickets in hand and the hosts Kolkata Knight Riders clinched the target by smashing 137 for the loss of five wickets with four balls to spare.
The 15thmatch of the Indian Premier League 2012, was played at the famous Eden Gardens, Kolkata on April 13, 2012. The enthusiastic home crowd of Kolkata Knight Riders cheered up their team and enjoyed every moment of the game.
Earlier, Rajasthan Royals captain, Rahul Dravid won the toss, opted to bat and initiated the innings with Ajinkya Rahane and both gathered 23 runs in the first four overs. Rahane opened up in the fifth over and collected nine runs with two fours and Dravid followed him in the next over. The first wicket stand produced 45 runs in 6.1 overs before Rahane was gone for 19 and three runs later Ashok Menaria was run out for just one run. Dravid added their miseries when he lost his wicket for 28 off 27 balls with 5 fours as just one more runs was added in the total.
Rajasthan Royals were reeling at 49-3 in 8.2 overs when Shreevats Goswami and Owais Shah joined together in the centre and started to stabilise the innings accompanied by occasional boundaries. They geared up in the 16th over by scoring 16 runs with one six and a four as the first hundred of the innings was achieved. The fourth wicket partnership injected valuable 59 runs as Goswami was caught by Lakshmipathy Balaji off Shakib Al Hasan for 24 off 22 with one six and even four.
Owais Shah was the fifth batsman who went back to the pavilion for 31 off 33 balls with three fours and Rajasthan Royals managed 131 runs after losing five wickets in the allotted 20 overs.
Shakib Al Hasan was the most successful bowler with three wickets and Sunil Narine claimed one wicket.
Kolkata Knight Riders opened the innings with the experienced campaigner, Jacques Kallis and skipper Gautam Gambhir as they stared off in an attacking mode by scoring 10 runs in the first over supported by two fours from Gambhir. They took the score to 22 when the latter was unluckily run out for 11 runs as Manvinder Bisla joined with Kallis.
The duo picked up two boundaries in the sixth over and the first fifty of the innings was posted in the eighth over. The run rate was picked up and the score moved to 70 in 10.5 overs when Kallis was declared leg before wicket off Johan Botha for 31 from 38 balls with 3 fours. Manoj Tiwary came in next as Bisla was consolidating at the other end and both took the score to 92 at the end of the 14th over when 40 runs were required to win off the last 36 deliveries.
Bisla became the next victim after scoring 29 off 29 balls with 3 fours when the all rounder, Shakib Al Hasan dropped in for batting. Tiwary and Shakib lost their wickets in quick succession but they kept the required run rate under check as Ryan ten Doeschate dispatched the winning six on the second ball of the 20th over. They scored 137 runs with five wickets still in hand in 19.2 overs whereas Yusuf Pathan and Ryan ten Doeschate remained unbeaten on seven runs each.
Johan Botha, Amit Singh, Brad Hogg and Ashok Menaria shared one wicket each for the Royals.
Points earned by the both teams at the end of the IPL 2012, match 15:
Kolkata Knight Riders – 4 from 4 matches.
Rajasthan Royals – 4 from 4 matches.
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