The first match in the IPL careered from a potential cliffhanger to a comfortable 11-run victory for the Kolkata Knight Riders in Mumbai last night The Knight Riders, after losing a wicket to the Deccan Chargers with the first ball in the tournament and two in the first over, clawed their way back to make 161 for the loss of four wickets in their 20 overs. Their salvation was a magnificent partnership between Owais Shah (58 not out) and Angelo Mathews (65 not out).
Things still looked grim for the Knight Riders when the Chargers' captain, Adam Gilchrist, pounded their attack for 54 runs, including three sixes and three fours, before falling to the first ball of the 11th over with 99 on the board. The Chargers still looked in a commanding position, but the innings fell apart, and they never looked like getting the 17 runs they needed off the final over, finishing at 150 for seven. sports@thenational.ae
Kolkata Knight Riders: Manoj Tiwary c Sharma b Vaas 0 Brad Hodge c Gibbs b Jaskaran 13 Sourav Ganguly c Anirudh b Vaas 0 Chetshwar Pujara c Ojha b Rudra Pratap 10 Owais Shah not out 58 Angelo Mathews not out 65 Extras (lb8, w6, nb1) 15 Total (for four wickets in 20 overs) 161 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-0, 3-31, 4-31 Bowling: Chaminda Vaas 3-1-22-2 Rudra Pratap Singh 4-0-35-1 Jaskaran Singh 4-0-35-1 Pragyan Ojha 4-0-19-0 Andrew Symonds 4-0-26-0 Tirumalasetti Suman 1-0-16-0 Deccan Chargers: Adam Gilchrist c Tiwary b Hodge 54 VVS Laxman c & b Kartik 22 Herschelle Gibbs c Mathews b Langeveldt 19 Andrew Symonds c Ganguly b Sharma 5 Rohit Sharma c Hodge b Mathews 13 Anirudh Singh c&b Shukla 14 Tirumalasetti Suman not out 7 Chaminda Vaas b Langeveldt 0 Jaskaran Singh not out 4 Extras (b 4, lb 1, w 5, nb 2) 12 Total (for seven wickets in 20 overs) 150 Fall of wickets: 1-61, 2-99, 3-102, 4-116, 5-128, 6-141, 7-142 Bowling: Charl Langeveldt 4-0-26-2 Ishant Sharma 4-0-31-1 Laxmi Ratan Shukla 3-0-30-1 Murali Kartik 3-0-17-1 Angelo Mathews 4-0-27-1 Brad Hodge 2-0-14-1
