Kolkata Knight Riders 127-2 (Gautam Gambhir 66*, Jacques Kallis 30*, Piyush Chawla 2-19) beat Kings XI Punjab 124-7 (Adam Gilchrist 40*, Shaun Marsh 33, Sunil Narine 2-24) by 8 wickets.

Gautam Gambhir led Kolkata Knight Riders from the front by smashing 66 runs and outplayed Kings XI Punjab by 8 wickets in the IPL 2012.

Kings XI Punjab crept to 124 runs with three wickets in hand at the end of the scheduled 20^th over and Kolkata Knight Riders attained the target by plundering 127 runs for the loss of just two wickets with 21 balls to spare.

Gautam Gambhir (Kolkata Knight Riders) was declared ‘Player of the match for his enterprising innings of 66 from 44 balls and intelligent captaincy.

The 22^nd match of the Indian Premier League 2012 was played at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh on April 18, 2012. The stadium was almost full of the spectators who were deprived of glory from their home team, King XI Punjab.

Earlier, Adam Gilchrist, the captain of Kings XI Punjab won the toss, came in to bat with Paul Valthaty and scored eight runs in the first over. The boundaries were hard to find and most of the runs were taken by running and the openers collected 24 runs for the first wicket as Valthaty was gone for eight runs. The youngster, Shaun Marsh came in next as the runs rate was picked up instantly and the score was taken to 44. Gilchrist hurt his right hamstring while attempting a runs on the fifth ball of the sixth over when he had scored brisk 28 runs.

Mandeep Singh joined with Marsh but after the addition of 18 runs he departed for just six runs and the wickets kept on sliding after that. Marsh was the third batsman who went back to the pavilion for 33 off 30 balls with 4 fours as the total touched 86 runs in 14 runs.

Gilchrist came in the centre again and tried to push the score against the lethal bowling attack of Kolkata Knight Riders but found himself stranded and scored unbeaten 40 off 30 deliveries with one six and three fours. Kings XI Punjab managed 124 runs for the loss of seven wickets at the end of the 20^th over as five of their batsmen were unable to enter the double figures.

Brett Lee and Sunil Narine were the most successful bowlers with two wickets each as Lakshmipathy Balaji and Rajat Bhatia secured one wicket each.

Kolkata Knight Riders opened the innings with Brendon McCullum and their captain, Gautam Gambhir as the first collected nine runs from the initial over off Praveen Kumar with a couple of boundaries. Gambhir joined him in the fourth over by dispatching 13 runs from the fourth over that included one six and a four. He continued with the onslaught in the next over by gathering 14 runs with two sweetly timed fours. The first wicket partnership associated 53 quick runs from 5.5 overs when McCullum was caught by Dimitri Mascarenhas at short fine leg off Piyush Chawla for 15 runs.

Manvinder Bisla took guards in the centre as Gambhir was going smooth at the other end without taking any chances. Bisla got life at one run when Adam Gilchrist missed an easy stumping on the fourth ball of the eighth over off Chawla. He was unable to manipulate the chance and was clean bowled by Chawla for 11 runs.

The second wicket fell at 74 runs in 9.5 overs as the experienced Jacques Kallis entered in the park and Gambhir achieved his fifty on the fifth ball of the 14^th over. The skipper was dropped two balls later by Praveen Kumar at midwicket off Bhargav Bhatt for 50 runs.

Kallis continued with the attack as Gambhir demonstrated watchful innings later and the first dispatched 10 runs in three balls of the 17^th over with one six and a four. The target was achieved by thrashing 127 runs in 16.3 overs whereas Gautam Gambhir was unbeaten for 66 from 44 balls with one six and seven fours as Jacques Kallis was at the wicket with 30 off 23 deliveries with the assistance of one six and two fours.

Kolkata Knight Riders won the match comfortably by a hefty margin of eight wickets and collected two points.

Points secured by two teams at the end of the 22^nd match of IPL 2012:

Kolkata Knight Riders      –  6 from 6 games.

Kings XI Punjab                   –   4 from 5 games.