Dubai

Kolkata Knight Riders’ pacer Umesh Yadav and skipper Gautam Gambhir, gifted their home crowd at the Eden Gardens ground, an emphatic eight-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab with 21 balls to spare.

Yadav through a fine spell of four wickets for 33 runs restricted Punjab to 170 for 9. Gambhir then cracked an unbeaten 72 off 49 balls with 11 boundaries.

Gambhir and Sunil Narine put on a 50 runs opening partnership in just 4.3 overs. Narine cracked Punjab skipper Glenn Maxwell for two successive boundaries in the fifth over and also hit Varun Aaron for two successive sixes in the sixth over. The pair put on 76 runs in 5.4 overs before Aaron had Narine who hit 37 runs off 18 balls caught by Axar Patel at deep midwicket.

Next man Robin Uthappa got off the mark with a six off Mohit Sharma. Kolkata went past the 100 run mark in just 8.1 overs. In the 10th over Axar Patel clean bowled Uthappa who hit a quick 26 off 16 balls. Uthappa and Gambhir added 40 runs in 4.2 overs.

Needing 55 runs in the last ten overs, Gambhir reached his 33rd half century in IPL in 34 balls. Gambhir also added an unbeaten 55 runs in 6.3 overs with Manish Pandey (25n.o).

Earlier, Punjab squandered the advantage of a good start from their openers Hashim Amla (25) and Manan Vohra (28). Kolkata won the toss but elected to field. Punjab opener Amla, fresh from his unbeaten knock of 58 against Royal Challengers Bangalore, flicked the second ball of the match from Trent Boult past the square leg for a boundary. He also picked another boundary off the fifth ball from Bolt. Opener Vohra pulled Umesh Yadav’s fifth delivery from the second over for a six.

Vohra also hit Bolt for two consecutive boundaries in the third over. The first boundary was punched through cover and the next he tickled off his leg. He escaped being caught in the same over as Narine at third man dropped a simple catch at his score on 17. When Chris Woakes was introduced in the third over, Amla hit him over point for a boundary and Vohra picked two successive boundaries off the last two balls. The pair put on their 53 runs in 5.1 overs before Piyush Chawla bowled Vohra with a googly for 28.

Next man, Marcus Stoinis lasted only 12 balls before being bowled by Narine for 9. This brought in Maxwell, who began by hitting Woakes to fine leg for a boundary. He also escaped being caught behind by wicketkeeper Robin Uthappa off an inside edge to the next ball. In the tenth over, Maxwell hit Chawla for a straight six and also scored two consecutive boundaries off the next two balls. At the end of the 10th over, Punjab were in a commanding 95 for 2.

Colin de Grandhomme ended Amla’s innings for 25 who top edged to Gautam Gambhir at extra cover. Maxwell and Amla put on 31 runs in four overs. Umesh Yadav ended Maxwell’s knock too by forcing Maxwell to edge to wicketkeeper Uthappa for 25.

David Miller cracked de Grandhomme through the covers for a boundary while Wriddhiman Saha lifted Chawla for a straight six and another six over extra cover. By the end of the 15th over Punjab were 134 for 4 needing some more big hits for a good total. Narine bowled a brilliant 16th over giving away just four runs.

Boult was reintroduced for the 17th over and Saha top edged through third man for a boundary. Miller swung Yadav over midwicket for a six to steer Punjab past the 150 run mark. The pair also recorded their fifty runs partnership. He also punched the next ball yorker from Yadav for a boundary. However Miller fell to the third ball from Yadav when he was brilliantly caught by a diving Manish Pandey to a slog short to midwicket for 28 off 19 balls. The pair had put on 57 runs in 5.2 overs. Saha too fell to the next ball as he hit Yadav straight to Woakes at mid-off for 25 off 17 balls. Yadav took the third wicket of the over by having Axar Patel caught at cover by Narine for a duck.

Brief scores:

Kolkata Knight Riders bt Kings XI Punjab by 8 wkts. Punjab 170 for 9 in 20 overs (Hashim Amla 25, Manan Vohra 28, Glenn Maxwell 25, David Miller 28, Wriddhiman Saha 25, Umesh Yadav 4 for 33, Chris Woakes 2 for 30) Kolkata 171 for 2 in 16.3 overs (Sunil Narine 37, Gautam Gambhir 72n.o Manish Pandey 25n.o)